President Donald Trump pardoned two former Washington police officers who were convicted in the 2020 murder of 20-year-old Karon Hylton-Brown, the White House said on Jan. 22.
The officers remained free pending the outcomes of their appeals.
In a statement, the Metropolitan Police Department said that Sutton, in his early 40s, and Zabavsky, in his mid-50s, were on “indefinite suspension without pay, pending our administration process.”
Sutton was found guilty by a unanimous federal jury in late 2022, after a nine-week trial, of second-degree murder, conspiracy to obstruct, and obstruction of justice. The same jury found Zabavsky guilty of conspiracy to obstruct and obstruction of justice.
The two officers observed Hylton-Brown driving a moped without a helmet on a sidewalk in the Brightwood Park area of Northwest Washington on Oct. 23, 2020, according to the DOJ.
Hylton-Brown, who was unarmed, allegedly ignored Sutton’s attempt to stop him and drove off. Sutton began pursuing him at high speeds, over more than 10 blocks, until he was eventually struck and killed by an uninvolved oncoming motorist.
“As Mr. Hylton-Brown lay unconscious in the street in a pool of his own blood, Sutton and Zabavsky, agreed to cover up what Sutton had done to prevent any further investigation of the incident,” the DOJ said in September 2024.
The jury found that Sutton caused Hylton-Brown’s death by driving a police vehicle in “conscious disregard” for an extreme risk of death or serious bodily injury to Hylton-Brown.
The jury also found that Sutton and Zabavsky conspired to hide the circumstances of the traffic crash from officials.
The DOJ said Sutton drafted a police report that “memorialized a false narrative of the incident” that gave the impression that no police pursuit had occurred.
Hylton-Brown died after “suffering from severe head trauma,” the department said.
The DC Police Union had sought a pardon for the two officers.
Trump mentioned the pardons during a press conference on Tuesday. “I just approved it,” Trump said. “They arrested two officers and put them in jail for going after a criminal.”
Zabavsky’s attorney, Christopher Zampogna, in a statement to media outlets, thanked Trump for the pardon. He said that he and his client are working out final details with the DOJ.
Sutton’s attorney, Kellen Dwyer, in a statement to media outlets, said that while he and his client were confident that “the D.C. Circuit would have reversed this conviction,” they were thrilled that Trump ended the prosecution.
The Epoch Times contacted the White House, the DC Police Union, and lawyers for Sutton and Zabavsky for comment.
