Former D.C. officers found guilty in death of 20-year-old during police chase

Two former Metropolitan Law enforcement officials have been discovered responsible on all expenses introduced in opposition to them in reference to the loss of life of Karon Hylton-Brown, who was concerned in a deadly automotive crash throughout a police chase greater than two years in the past, in Washington, D.C.

Terence Sutton, 38, and Andrew Zabavsky, 54, have been beforehand suspended from the police division as what many believed to be suspicious circumstances surrounding Hylton-Brown’s loss of life sparked public unrest and in the end led to a legal trial. The jury returned responsible verdicts for each males, the U.S. Division of Justice introduced in a news release on Wednesday, convicting Sutton of second-degree homicide, conspiracy to hinder justice and obstruction of justice, and Zabavsky of the latter two expenses.

Hylton-Brown, a 20-year-old Black man, was pursued by D.C. police whereas driving a moped on a sidewalk within the metropolis’s Brightwood Park neighborhood on Oct. 23, 2020, in accordance with the Justice Division. Authorities have stated the tried visitors cease was prompted by Hylton-Brown’s lack of a helmet, though Sutton and Zabavsky — a former officer who was assigned to the division’s crime suppression workforce, and former lieutenant who supervised the workforce of officers that included Sutton — have been additionally discovered responsible of conspiring to cover the true circumstances of the chase and visitors collision that triggered the younger man’s loss of life.

After the police pursuit started at round 10 p.m. native time, Sutton continued to chase Hylton-Brown for greater than 10 blocks via neighborhood streets and into an alley, in accordance with federal authorities. Hylton-Brown was struck by an oncoming automobile as quickly as he exited the alley, and suffered extreme head trauma that led to his loss of life two days later, on Oct. 25, 2020, the Justice Division stated. 

“The jury discovered that Sutton triggered Mr. Hylton-Brown’s loss of life by driving a police automobile in aware disregard for an excessive threat of loss of life or critical bodily damage to Mr. Hylton-Brown,” the Justice Division stated. “The jury additional discovered that Sutton and Zabavsky conspired and mixed to cover from MPD officers the circumstances of the visitors crash resulting in Mr. Hylton-Brown’s loss of life.”

The incident sparked protests within the nation’s capital. Simply days after Hylton-Brown’s loss of life, a crowd rushed the doorways of the 4th District police station and threw a trash can via the window. A police line was shaped, and a WUSA-TV reporter noticed fireworks being set off, police automotive home windows being smashed and glass bottles and rocks being thrown on the police line.

The second-degree homicide cost in opposition to Sutton carries a statutory most sentence of 40 years in jail, whereas the conspiracy and obstruction of justice expenses every carry respective statutory maximums of 5 and 20 years, the Justice Division stated. Sutton’s conviction marked the primary time a D.C. police officer has been convicted of homicide whereas within the line of responsibility, CBS affiliate WUSA reported.

A federal district courtroom choose will decide sentences for each former officers. Sentencing hearings haven’t but been scheduled.