D.C. police officer convicted of murder for role in deadly scooter chase

A jury found two former D.C. police officers guilty Wednesday, one of them on murder charges, for their roles in a 2020 chase that ended when a suspect died after crashing his scooter.

A jury found officer Terence Sutton guilty of second-degree murder, conspiracy to obstruct and obstruction of justice over an attempted traffic stop and eventual pursuit of Karon Hylton-Brown that ended when he fatally collided with another car, WUSA reported. 

This marks the first time a D.C. police officer has been convicted — or even charged — for murder while on duty, according to DCist. 

Sutton’s supervisor, Andrew Zabavsky, was also found guilty on obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct for trying to cover up details of what happened during the incident. 

Both officers worked for the 4th District’s crime suppression unit. They are no longer employed by D.C. police.c

Hylton-Brown was riding a scooter on a sidewalk without a helmet, which are both traffic violations in D.C., when Sutton tried to pull him over in an unmarked police vehicle on Oct. 23, 2020. 

Hylton-Brown fled, and Sutton pursued him over 10 blocks and three minutes. Zabavsky followed behind in a marked police SUV. 

The chase eventually led to an alley on the 700 block of Kennedy Street NW where Hylton-Brown was struck by a vehicle upon exiting the alley, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C. He suffered severe head injuries and died two days later. 

D.C. police can’t pursue suspects over attempted traffic stops. 

Sutton’s attorney argued that Hylton-Brown was in the Brightwood Park neighborhood to retaliate following an earlier dispute, hence the need for the aggressive pursuit. 

But the jury found U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves’ argument — that Sutton “caused Mr. Hylton-Brown’s death by driving a police vehicle in conscious disregard for an extreme risk of death or serious bodily injury” — more convincing. 

The trial lasted eight weeks. Hylton-Brown’s mother, Karen Hylton, began screaming and shouting as the verdict came down, causing the judge to order her out of the courtroom. She was taken into custody by U.S. Marshals and is being held in Alexandria, Virginia, per DCist.