The man charged with vehicular homicide after he hit and killed activist Summer Taylor on I-5 has been ordered released from jail and placed on home detention despite being held on bail of $1.2 million.
According to court records, Dawit Kelete was ordered released after a bid from his lawyers to allow the defendant to go under house arrest and electronic monitoring as he awaits trial.
Kelete pleaded not guilty to charges of vehicular homicide, vehicular assault, and reckless driving after he crashed into a Black Lives Matter protest on I-5 on July 4th, killing one demonstrator, and badly injuring another.
His legal defense has said the 27-year-old has been unfairly portrayed in the media and that the crash was a terrible accident.
Police say Kelete killed 24-year-old Capitol Hill resident Taylor and sent 32-year-old Diaz Love to the hospital with serious injuries after he sped onto a closed I-5 during a Seattle Black Lives Matter protest. Though he passed a sobriety and breathalyzer test, prosecutors say Kelete told authorities he would suffer withdrawal from a painkiller and suffers from addiction when he was being admitted to the King County Jail.
RIP Summer Taylor pic.twitter.com/iB1anq94je
— @manvsparty in the other places too (@ManVsParty) July 6, 2020
According to court documents, Kelete’s release requires him to post a $100,000 bond or cash, participate in electronic home monitoring, in addition to agreeing not to drive, consume alcohol or drugs, or possess a firearm among several restrictions.
Court records don’t currently include a trial date following multiple continuances.
As the case continues to be investigated, the court also approved $5,000 in state-funded forensic services for the defense to hire an investigator to provide “video enhancement” services and “relevant calculations based upon the video evidence.”
Video from the night of the incident, Kelete’s lawyers from the Fury Duarte firm write, is “crucial to the defense.”
Taylor, a Capitol Hill resident who loved working with animals, was remembered as expressing joy and passion for social justice. Meanwhile, friends and supporters raised thousands of dollar to help Love with medical expenses, living expenses, and recovery costs following the crash.
$5 A MONTH TO HELP KEEP CHS PAYWALL-FREE
🌈🐣🌼🌷🌱🌳🌾🍀🍃🦔🐇🐝🐑🌞🌻
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What is the update on Kelete’s trial? Is this man ever going to be tried or is he free by default?
His trial should be moved to a more neutral setting. The media coverage that night parroted the state patrol misinformation as well as the suggestion that he intentionally ran people over. Even this article paints him as someone who was high at the time, even though you can be “an addict” with several years of sobriety. It was a tragic accident and we should really be looking at the alleged “closure” that he was able to “drive through” without any damage to his very expensive car as well as the contradictory narrative that he was going the wrong way up an offramp. It sounds like the police failed to protect the people standing on the freeway in the middle of the night.
The media reported the facts. The conclusions people jump to from those facts are no fault of the media. The authorities successfully protected the marchers on several occasions under the same protocols for several dates. No other instances putting lives in danger occurred. The driver clearly disregarded signage and barricades in disregard and negligence of human lives. Whatever his motives were. A homicide and near-homicide occurred by his very own decisions and decisions.