Two D.C. police officers convicted after the October 2020 death of Karon Hylton-Brown have been reinstated, according to the Metropolitan Police Department.
Terence Sutton and Lt. Andrew Zabavsky were pardoned by President Donald Trump in January.
Hylton-Brown had been riding a motorbike without a helmet as Sutton pursued him in an unmarked car, prosecutors said. The chase went on for 10 blocks before Sutton followed Hylton-Brown down an alley at what prosecutors called an unreasonable speed. When Hylton-Brown left the alley, he was hit by a car.
Hylton-Brown suffered severe head trauma and died in a hospital two days later. He was 20 years old and the father of an infant.
We've got the news you need to know to start your day. Sign up for the First & 4Most morning newsletter — delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up here.
His death sparked protests, including outside the Fourth District police station.
The U.S. Attorney for D.C. says Sutton and Zabavsky failed to preserve the crash scene for investigators and turned off their body cameras.
“As Mr. Hylton-Brown lay unconscious in the street in a pool of his own blood, Sutton and Zabavsky agreed to cover up what Sutton had done to prevent any further investigation of the incident,” the office said in a statement.
At the police station, the officers denied that a chase occurred, falsely implied that Hylton-Brown was drunk and downplayed his injuries, prosecutors said.
The judge said that with the sentences, he wanted to send a message about the officers’ behavior and the cover-up that followed.
In December 2022, Sutton was found guilty of second-degree murder, conspiracy to obstruct and obstruction of justice and was sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison. It was the first time an on-duty D.C. police officer had been charged and convicted of murder.
Zabavsky, who was driving a second police car involved in the chase, was found guilty of conspiracy and obstruction of justice and was sentenced to four years in prison.
They both had been free pending appeals before Trump handed down the pardons.
Here's what we know about backpay and the officers' future roles
Neither officer is back at work yet. Both will undergo weeks of routine training and be recertified before they can get back their guns and badges and return to duty.
Sources familiar with the case tell News4 Zabavsky has enough time with the department to retire and will likely take that option. His attorney told The Washington Post he suffered a stroke after he was sentenced.
Sutton has about 16 years on the force, so retirement may not be an option. If he returns to work, sources say it’s unlikely he would be assigned to any public-facing duty.
Both Sutton and Zabavsky were suspended after an internal MPD investigation, sources said. Since they already had been suspended at that point, that likely was considered to be time already served.
They are expected to get backpay for much of the past four years, with the suspension time deducted.
Here’s what Trump and Hylton-Brown’s mother said about the pardons
“I am going to be letting two officers from Washington police, D.C., I believe they are from D.C., but I just approved it,” Trump told reporters in January. “They were arrested, put in jail for five years, because they went after an illegal, and I guess something happened where something went wrong and they arrested the two officers and put them in jail for going after a criminal — a rough criminal, by the way — and I’m actually releasing.”
In Trump’s comments, he referred to Hylton-Brown as an "illegal." News4 found no evidence he was in the country illegally, and D.C. police made no reference to his citizenship status having anything to do with why Hylton-Brown was being pursued the night he died.
Before Trump pardoned the officers, Hylton-Brown’s mother released a statement that said, in part, "Per President Trump inauguration speech, he spoke of fairness. The pardoning of Sutton and Zabavsky isn't fairness. I have and am requesting that President Trump review this case before judgement.”
News4 sends breaking news stories by email. Go here to sign up to get breaking news alerts in your inbox.
“As a mother, I am asking you don't pardon the murders (sic) of my baby Karon Hylton,” Karen Hylton said. “President Trump as the mother of a baby whom I love, I am requesting to speak with you privately … Please don't pardon Sutton and Zabavsky.”
Correction (Tuesday, March 4 at 7:22 a.m.): An earlier version of this misspelled one of the officer's first names. This article has been updated.
