Summer Taylor, a Nonbinary Capitol Hill resident and veterinary assistant at Urban Animal, was found not at fault for their own death during a Black Lives Matter (BLM) protest along I-5 on July 4, 2020. After a two-and-a-half-week trial, 12 King County jurors found the 24-year-old was not in violation of the law or engaged in any illegal activity that day.

Full responsibility of Taylor's death was placed on Dawit Kelete, who pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide and reckless vehicular assault (both felonies), as well as wreckless driving (a misdemeanor). Kelete is serving a six-and-half year sentence, which will be followed by 18 months of probation, and was found liable for $6 million in damages payable to Taylor's estate.

"The State attempted to paint our child a criminal- the jury disagreed," Dalia Taylor, Summer Taylor's mother, said in a statement. "Let us all honor Summer's memory by living with compassion, moving forward without fear, and boldly rejecting beliefs and practices that harm and hold us back. Today is another step toward a more perfect union."

Background
Taylor was one of tens of thousands of people who gathered downtown and in the Capitol Hill neighborhood for weeks after Minneapolis cops murdered George Floyd. On the day they were killed, Taylor was part of the Black Femme March against police brutality in solidarity with the BLM movement. Another Nonbinary protestor, Diaz Love, was hit by Kelete's vehicle and transported to a hospital in serious condition.

According to the Human Rights Campaign, Taylor's death was believed to be the 21st violent death of a gender-nonconforming or Transgender person in the US that year.

Although the Washington State Patrol sealed off sections of I-5 for protests that day, Kelete drove wrongfully up an offramp while impaired. According to the Capitol Hill Seattle Blog, Kelete underwent a breathalyzer test following the accident and passed.

Prosecutors claimed he was experiencing withdrawal from painkillers and addiction challenges during his admission to jail.

Lawsuits
The case brought by the estate of Summer Taylor claimed that the state failed to fully and properly close the freeway and allowed Kelete to enter the roadway. Out of the 12 jurors, 10 voted in the state's favor and found it not liable.

Kelete has been referred to King County's Legal Financial Obligations program, through which restitution costs are imposed by the court on a consistent monthly-payment basis.

The Stritmatter Kessler Koehler Moore law firm's trial attorneys Karen Koehler, Mo Hamoudi, and Shannon Kilpatrick represented the estate.

In an earlier major lawsuit against the City of Seattle, the Stritmatter firm assisted 50 plaintiffs in winning a $10 million settlement for harm caused by Seattle Police Department officers during the 2020 BLM and CHOP protests. Leading the department at the time was Chief Carmen Best, who allowed the use of aggressive techniques to decluster crowds, like blast balls that explode and emit pepper gas, flash-bang grenades, and foam-tipped projectiles.

US District Judge Richard Jones ordered the department to cease the use of "chemical irritants or projectiles of any kind," as he determined they were indiscriminately used against peaceful demonstrators, including journalists.