DC Police Officers Found Guilty in Karon Hylton-Brown’s Death

Two D.C. police officers have been found guilty on all charges in the death of Karon Hylton-Brown, who died in 2020 after his scooter crashed as police chased him.

Karon Hylton-Brown

Officer Terence Sutton, 38, was was found guilty of second-degree murder, conspiracy to obstruct and obstruction of justice. Sutton was driving the police car during the chase {snip}

Lt. Andrew Zabavsky, 54, was found guilty of conspiracy and obstruction of justice. Zabavsky was behind the wheel of a second police car involved in the chase.

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Hylton-Brown’s mother began jumping up and down in her seat and snapping her fingers as the verdict was read. Suddenly, she jumped up and started screaming at the officers at the defense table. {snip}

According to an indictment issued last year, Sutton violated police general orders by chasing Hylton-Brown. He and Zabavsky then intentionally misled police superiors about what happened leading up to the crash, the indictment states.

Attorneys for the officers told the judge they were making a legal stop to investigate their suspicions that Hylton-Brown was armed.

“The officers would have been in dereliction of their duty not to attempt a stop of Hylton-Brown to determine if he was armed. Officers knew from experience that when Hylton-Brown was ‘dirty,’ that is being armed or in possession of drugs, he would run,” Sutton’s attorney J. Michael Hannon said in a letter to D.C. Police Chief Robert Contee.

Hylton-Brown was 20 years old and the father of an infant about to turn 3 months old when the crash occurred. Video shows him riding a scooter up and down streets of the Brightwood Park neighborhood in October as officers try to pull him over. Officers followed him and turned on their lights.

Hylton-Brown was hit by a passing van {snip}

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