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MPD Chief Pamela Smith reinstated two officers convicted of murder and cover-up, overruling her department's recommendation to fire them

On March 3, 2025, D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department reinstated officers Terence Sutton and Andrew Zabavsky, both convicted in the 2020 death of Karon Hylton-Brown and pardoned by President Trump that January, restoring them to the force with back pay retroactive to 2021. MPD Chief Pamela Smith overruled her department's own Disciplinary Review Division, which had recommended termination for both officers based on a 172-page internal investigation; Sutton received a 25-day suspension and Zabavsky a $2,500 fine and pension-eligible retirement. The D.C. Auditor later found the discipline "grossly inadequate" and said Chief Smith never personally reviewed the investigative file, relying instead on MPD legal counsel.

Jurisdiction
Washington
Location
Washington, D.C.

Abuses documented

Actors

  • Pamela Smith (MPD Chief)

On March 3, 2025, D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department reinstated officers Terence Sutton and Lt. Andrew Zabavsky to the force, restoring pay retroactive to 2021. Both had been suspended without pay following their December 2023 conviction for second-degree murder, conspiracy, and obstruction of justice in the October 2020 death of Karon Hylton-Brown, a 20-year-old moped rider killed during a police pursuit; both were pardoned by President Trump on January 22, 2025, before serving any of their sentences.

MPD's own Disciplinary Review Division had recommended termination for both officers, according to a 172-page internal investigation. MPD Chief Pamela Smith overruled that recommendation, instead imposing a 25-day suspension on Sutton and a $2,500 fine on Zabavsky, who was allowed to retire with full, pension-eligible benefits. An MPD spokesperson said only that "Officer Sutton and Lt. Zabavsky have been reinstated. MPD does not comment on personnel matters." ACLU-DC executive director Monica Hopkins called the reinstatement "an affront to public safety," asking, "How are D.C. communities supposed to trust law enforcement when officers can abuse their power and not face consequences?"

A department overruling its own investigators' recommendation to fire officers convicted of killing someone and covering it up, in favor of discipline amounting to weeks of unpaid leave and a small fine, is a distinct decision by MPD leadership to protect its own officers from consequences — independent of whatever the presidential pardon did.

Updates

2025-07-23 — D.C. Auditor found reinstatement discipline "grossly inadequate" [4]

The D.C. Auditor later found the resulting discipline "grossly inadequate" given the officers' convictions, and said Chief Smith never personally reviewed the 172-page investigative file, relying solely on MPD legal counsel for her decision. Auditor Kathy Patterson said: "The buck stops with her. In this case, the buck was dropped."

Why we recorded this

A police department's own disciplinary process is supposed to be the check on officer misconduct that internal politics and outside pardons cannot erase. MPD's own Disciplinary Review Division recommended firing Terence Sutton and Andrew Zabavsky, the officers whose pursuit killed Karon Hylton-Brown and who were convicted of murder and covering it up; MPD Chief Pamela Smith overruled that recommendation and reinstated both after their federal pardons, giving Sutton a 25-day suspension and Zabavsky a $2,500 fine before his retirement, both retroactive to 2021. This archive records the reinstatement separately from the pardon because it is MPD's own independent decision to shield convicted officers from the consequences its own investigators recommended.

Sources

  1. DC police department reinstates officers convicted in death and cover up after Trump pardon — CNN investigative accessed August 2, 2026
  2. 2 DC police officers involved in moped driver's death reinstated after Trump pardons — WTOP News investigative accessed August 2, 2026
  3. Despite Murder Conviction, MPD Gave Officer His Job Back—and Back Pay — The Washington Informer investigative accessed August 2, 2026
  4. Discipline of MPD Officers in Death of Karon Hylton Brown was "Grossly Inadequate" — Office of the D.C. Auditor primary accessed August 2, 2026

See also