D.C. Police Officer Terence Sutton was convicted of second degree murder, obstruction of justice, and conspiracy Wednesday in the death of Karon Hylton-Brown. His lieutenant, Andrew Zabavsky, was convicted of obstruction and conspiracy following an historic eight-week trial. Neither officer testified at trial.
The two officers were indicted in September 2021, more than a year after Hylton-Brown was killed following a police pursuit. The 20-year-old died from injuries sustained when the moped he was driving collided with an oncoming car after Sutton had chased him in an unmarked police car through the residential neighborhood on the Kennedy Street NW corridor.
Hylton-Brown’s mother, Karen Hylton, was in the courtroom as the verdict was announced and shouted obscenities at the officers. Judge Paul Friedman ordered her removed immediately. Following the verdict, prosecutors asked the judge to take the two officers into custody, but he denied the request. The officers will remain out of custody until sentencing.
On Oct. 23, 2020, Sutton attempted to stop Hylton-Brown as he rode a moped on the sidewalk along Kennedy Street NW. Hylton-Brown refused to stop and Sutton chased him throughout the area, driving the wrong way down one-way streets, into alleys, and at times reaching twice the speed limit.
Zabavsky followed and monitored the pursuit in a marked police SUV.
The chase ended when Hylton-Brown exited an ally, with Sutton accelerating behind him, according to evidence presented at trial, and an oncoming vehicle struck him. He died in the hospital of a head injury, and his death sparked days of unrest in the Fourth District, where Sutton and Zabavsky worked on the Crime Suppression Team, a specialized unit that proactively investigates crime.
At trial, prosecutors presented evidence that Zabavsky and Sutton misled police supervisors about the pursuit and their involvement in it.
Multiple current and former Metropolitan Police Department officers testified at trial on behalf of the prosecution and the defense. Officer Carlos Tejera, who was riding in the unmarked car with Sutton, said he didn’t believe there were any good reasons to chase Hylton-Brown when he refused to stop. Tejera testified at trial that he suggested getting a search warrant instead.
Prosecutors argued that Sutton acted with “conscious disregard for an extreme risk of death or serious bodily injury” to Hylton-Brown, and were it not for Sutton’s actions, the young father would still be alive. Prosecutors also revealed that Sutton had previously been reprimanded for violating MPD’s policy on vehicle pursuits. Officers are barred from vehicle chases except in very limited circumstances—an alleged traffic violation is not one of them.
Sutton’s attorney, Michael Hannon, argued that Hylton-Brown caused his own death when he refused to stop for officers and recklessly led them on a chase. He said the officers had a duty to stop Hylton-Brown on “reasonable suspicion” due to a vague tip from a fellow officer that he had been in an altercation earlier in the day.
Sutton faces a maximum combined sentence of 65 years, including a max of 40 years for second degree murder, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C. Obstruction and conspiracy carry maximum sentences of 20 years and five years, respectively. A sentencing date has not been set.