Charges Filed Against Man Accused Of Hitting Protesters On I-5

SEATTLE, WA — King County prosecutors filed three charges Wednesday against Dawit Kelete, 27, the man accused of driving through a protest on Interstate 5, killing one person and seriously injuring another Saturday morning.

The charges include one count of vehicular homicide, one count of vehicular assault and one count of reckless driving. A spokesman for the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office said charges may be added or amended as an investigation by the Washington State Patrol and the FBI continues.

Summer Taylor, a 24-year-old veterinary clinic worker, was critically injured and died at Harborview Medical Center Saturday night. Taylor's parents spoke to reporters Wednesday morning, thanking the community for an outpouring of support and remembering Summer as a "shining light" and "a burst of creativity, wit and charm, with a heart full of empathy."

"What Summer set their mind to do, Summer did," said Dalia Taylor, Summer's mother. "That is why I knew no matter how much I might want to ask them to stay safe during protests, they would just say 'Mom, if you are Black in this country, it isn't even safe to be alive.'"

Summer's father, Matt Taylor, also addressed offensive social media posts made by a King County detective that appeared to mock his daughter's death and make other derogatory remarks about protesters.

"I think anybody who was liking it, sharing it or doing anything else with it should all be fired," Taylor said. "I think that's beyond obvious. It's disgusting and unfathomable."

Mike Brown is on administrative leave pending an internal investigation at the sheriff's office.

The second protester hit, Diaz Love, remains hospitalized at Harborview and continues to recover. Love shared an update on Facebook Sunday night.

Wednesday's court filings provide some new details about the investigation, but offer little insight as to why Kelete would have driven onto the closed freeway in the first place. Prosecutors have not speculated on a potential motive.

Trooper Todd Early writes that Washington State Patrol had closed I-5, between State Route 520 and Interstate 90, for several hours before the crash, using the same methods deployed during protests on previous nights.

"The entrance ramps to SB and NB I-5 were blocked between SR 520 and I-90. Exit ramps in that stretch were not blocked by patrol but are replete with warnings to alert any driver that they would be going the Wrong Way and to Not Enter were it to be used to enter the highway."

Early continues to say Kelete's Jaguar was captured on an REI security video driving the wrong way up an exit ramp just after 1:30 a.m., having passed several warning signs.

"Since this is an exit ramp from the SB lanes, a driver must make a deliberate and sharp right U-turn in order to drive SB on I-5," Early wrote.

The charging documents reference eyewitness reports and videos that show demonstrators yelling "car" as the Jaguar drives toward them at freeway speeds, passing a barricade of cars without slowing down.

One video shows protesters running before Taylor and Love are hit by the driver, who then flees the scene. Court documents say Kelete stopped a few hundred yards down the road, then sped away after witnesses yelled at him to get out of his vehicle. A man at the scene gave chase in his vehicle and was able to bring the Jaguar to a stop. Police arrived a few minutes later and Kelete was arrested.

According to investigators, a drug recognition expert performed field sobriety tests at the scene and determined Kelete was not impaired. Charging documents say Kelete denied taking medication, but later told jail staff he struggled with untreated addiction and could go into withdrawals from Percocet. Blood test results are pending.

After obtaining a search warrant, investigators reported that "several implements commonly used to smoke illegal substances and a substance that appears similar to crystal methamphetamine" were discovered in the car. Test results from the crime lab are still processing.

Kelete's attorney, John Henry Brown, told the Associated Press his client did not intentionally hit protesters.

"There's absolutely nothing political about this case whatsoever," Browne said. "My client is in tears. He's very remorseful. He feels tremendous guilt."

An arraignment is scheduled July 22 in Seattle, where Kelete is expected to enter a plea. Prosecutors requested bail remain at $1.2 million.