WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has issued full pardons to two D.C. police officers, Lt. Andrew Zabavsky and Officer Terence Sutton, who were convicted for their roles in the 2020 death of 20-year-old Karon Hylton-Brown and for covering up the circumstances of the incident, WTOP reported.
The case dates back to October 2020, when Sutton pursued Hylton-Brown, who was driving a moped without a helmet and violating traffic laws, according to the report. According to the Justice Department, Sutton pursued Hylton-Brown down a narrow alley without activating his lights or siren and deliberately accelerated behind him. Hylton-Brown was struck by another vehicle as he exited the alley and died two days later in the hospital.
Zabavsky, Sutton’s supervisor, was found guilty of helping to cover up the incident by falsifying reports that downplayed Hylton-Brown’s injuries and claimed he was under the influence, according to the report. Sutton was convicted of second-degree murder, conspiracy to obstruct justice and obstruction of justice, while Zabavsky was convicted of the latter two charges. Both were sentenced to prison terms, with Sutton receiving five and a half years for murder and four years for obstruction, served concurrently, and Zabavsky sentenced to four years.
The pardons, announced in an executive order on Jan. 22, came after lobbying efforts by the D.C. Police Union, which described the convictions as “glaring miscarriages of justice,” according to the report.
In a statement, the union claimed the officers were unfairly targeted by prosecutors and argued the charges against Sutton hindered the police department’s operations.
“We are looking at two police officers, actually, Washington police officers, that went after an illegal and things happened and they ended up putting them in jail. They got five-year jail sentences. You know the case,” Trump stated. “We’ve got to give them a break.”
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser released a statement to FOX 5 Washington D.C. in response to the pardon.
“President Trump pardoned two MPD officers involved in a fatal police pursuit,” the statement reads. “While MPD has long believed that the unfortunate loss of life caused by this police pursuit was best addressed in MPD’s administrative processes not a criminal one, we nonetheless accepted the jury verdicts. We continue to focus on training and discipline to hold our officers accountable to department policy and district law related to pursuits, while keeping our community safe from violent offenders.”
The D.C. Metropolitan Police Department also released a statement of response to the pardons, according to the FOX 5 report.
“The prosecutions of Officer Terence Sutton and Lieutenant Andrew Zabavsky were literally unprecedented,” the statement reads. “Never before, in any other jurisdiction in the country, has a police officer been charged with second-degree murder for pursuing a suspect. These members could never have imagined that engaging in a core function of their job would be prosecuted as a crime. The Department recognizes the risks involved in vehicle pursuits, which are reflected in our pursuit policy. But violations of that policy should be addressed through training and discipline - not through criminal prosecution. The Department thanks President Trump and Interim U.S. Attorney Ed Martin for supporting our officers.”
