By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday pardoned two Washington police officers convicted in the 2020 killing of a 20-year-old black man named Karon Hylton-Brown, the White House said.

In September 2024, Terence Sutton Jr was sentenced to 66 months in prison while Andrew Zabavsky was sentenced to 48 months in prison for “an unauthorized police pursuit that ended in a collision on October 23, 2020, which caused the death of Karon Hylton-Brown, 20, of Northwest Washington DC,” the Department of Justice said last year. The officers remain free pending the outcome of their appeals.

The Metropolitan Police Department said Sutton, in his early 40s, and Zabavsky, in his mid-50s, are on “indefinite suspension without pay, pending the process of our administration.”

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 obstruct justice.

The jury found that Sutton caused Hylton-Brown’s death by driving a police car in “disregard” to the extreme risk of death or serious bodily injury to Hylton-Brown.

It was also found that Sutton and Zabavsky conspired to conceal from officers the circumstances of the traffic accident that led to Hylton-Brown’s death.

The DC Police Union apologized for the two officers.

Sutton’s attorney, Kellen Dwyer, said in a statement cited by CNN that while he and his client are “confident that the DC Circuit will overturn this conviction, we are pleased that President Trump has ended this prosecution once and for all.” of all.” Zabavsky’s lawyer, Christopher Zampogna, also thanked Trump.

Hylton-Brown’s mother, Karen Hylton, told CNN before the announcement that she was shocked and cried when she learned of the potential pardons.

The incident happened a few months after the killing of George Floyd, a Black man who died after a police officer in Minneapolis knelt on his neck for several minutes. The killing led to protests against police brutality and racial inequality in the US and around the world.

After taking office on Monday, Trump pardoned about 1,500 of his supporters who attacked the US Capitol four years ago on January 6, 2021. Among those pardoned were some who attacked police officers.

The Fraternal Order of Police, the largest US police union that has endorsed Trump in the 2024 election, and the International Association of Chiefs of Police said in a joint statement that they were “disappointed ” of pardons.