Fed prosecutors want 18 years in prison for D.C. officer convicted in pursuit-related death

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Federal prosecutors are arguing for a 13-year veteran of DC Metro Police, Terence Sutton, convicted of second-degree murder and obstruction in the death of a pursuit suspect, to serve an 18-year prison sentence. Sutton's patrol vehicle was not involved in the collision of the suspect, who fled from police on a moped, but he was still convicted in the suspect's death.

As reported by WUSA, Sutton, 40, was convicted in 2022 in the pursuit-related death of 20-year-old Karon Hylton-Brown who perished while fleeing from officers on a moped. The outlet described that Sutton his commanding officer, DC Police Lt. Andrew Zabavsky, 56, engaged in pursuit of Hylton-Brown when he was observed riding a moped down pedestrian sidewalks. 

The officers engaged in a pursuit that lasted approximately three minutes and spanned ten city blocks down one-way streets the wrong way and at times at double the speed limit. The chase ended in tragedy when Hylton-Brown emerged from an alley and was struck by an oncoming vehicle. The suspect was transported to an area hospital where he died two days later.

Even though Sutton's was not the vehicle that struck and ultimately killed Hylton-Brown, the officer was charged with and convicted by a DC jury of second-degree murder and conspiracy to obstruct and obstruction of justice in 2022. His supervisor, Zabavsky, with him at the time of the incident, was also convicted of conspiracy to obstruct for allegedly attempting to cover up the accident's details. Sutton's conviction represents a first in department history.

The outlet reported that the prosecution sought the charges on grounds that the officers violated the city's policies on pursuit of suspects which forbid pursuits for minor traffic offenses, and further that they conspired to cover it up. Prosecutors argued that Hylton-Brown's death was a murder because of Sutton's alleged “conscious disregard of the extreme danger of death or serious bodily injury.”

A sentencing memo released Wednesday by prosecutors Elizabeth Aloi and Risa Berkower reduced Sutton's decision to pursue the suspect to a mere "hunch," claiming that the minor traffic incident "flew in the face of the badge the defendant wore."

They subsequently requested an 18-month sentence within the 12 to 24-year range allowed under guidelines. The prosecutors also recommended a ten-year sentence for Zabavsky.