Suspended Officers In Washington DC Were Found Guilty Of Murder In The Pursuit-related Death Of A 20 year Old Man: Two are suspended According to a news release from the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia on Wednesday, Washington, DC, officers have been found guilty of crimes connected to the death of a 20-year-old man during a police chase in 2020.
Suspended Terence Sutton, a 38-year-old officer with the Metropolitan Police Department, was convicted guilty of second-degree murder, obstruction of justice, and conspiring to impede the prosecution in Karon Hylton-death.
Brown’s According to the press announcement, 54-year-old suspended Lt. Andrew Zabavsky was found guilty of conspiring to obstruct and obstructing justice.
According to an earlier CNN article citing an indictment, Hylton-Brown, 20, was operating a Revel scooter on the sidewalk without a helmet in October 2020, which prompted authorities to activate their emergency lights and make an attempt at a traffic stop.
This sparked a police chase that lasted more than 10 blocks and occasionally reached “more than double the residential speed limit,” according to the indictment. Hylton-Brown was hit by an approaching civilian vehicle after the officers pursued him into an alleyway, according to CNN.
According to an earlier CNN article, Hylton-Brown suffered a serious brain injury and passed away two days later from his wounds.
According to the release from Wednesday, a jury determined that Sutton “caused Mr. Hylton-death Brown’s by driving a police vehicle in knowing disregard” for his safety. Additionally, the jury determined that Sutton and Zabavsky “conspired” to withhold information about the fatal collision from Metropolitan Police Department officers.
Robert Contee, the chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, stated in a statement to CNN that “MPD has supported the impartial and comprehensive review process performed by the United States Attorney’s Office since the beginning of this process. We have faith in our legal system and believe the jury fairly considered all the evidence, deliberated, and reached its verdict.
Contee declared that now that all criminal processes have been concluded, the police department will wrap up its internal inquiry into Hylton-passing. Brown’s
Throughout these procedures, “both Sutton and Zabavsky have been on indefinite suspension without pay,” Contee continued.
Sutton’s sentence for the second-degree murder charge may go up to 40 years. For the conspiracy charge and the obstruction of justice charge, Sutton and Zabavsky each face a maximum sentence of five years and twenty years, respectively.
According to the news release, Sutton and Zabavsky’s sentencing dates have not yet been set.
J. Michael Hannon, Sutton’s lawyer, has been contacted by CNN, but no response has been received. CNN is attempting to get in touch with Zabavsky’s lawyer.
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