HENRICO COUNTY, Va. — A Henrico County grand jury indicted a driver involved in the March 30, 2022, crash that killed Henrico County Police Ofc. Trey Sutton.
Jeffrey Adam Lankford, 18, of Hanover, was indicted on a charge of felony involuntary manslaughter, and misdemeanor reckless driving. He said ‘no comment’ after a hearing Monday afternoon.
“Ever since Trey’s death, his family and I have undergone the most gut-wrenching, horrific part of loss- reliving the worst night of our lives," Sutton's fiancee Zoe Pierson said in a statement. "We are grateful that Mr. Lankford is being held accountable for a senseless act that has changed the direction of our entire lives.'”
The Henrico Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office did not ask for a secured bond, because Lankford appeared voluntarily and has no prior criminal history. The judge released Lankford on a $1,000 personal recognizance bond on each count.
The charges come nearly six months after the crash that also injured Henrico Ofc. Greg Petrohovich and a man who was in the police car with the officers. Petrohovich was released from the hospital and continues to recover, Henrico Police said. The passenger remains hospitalized.
Sutton had graduated from the police academy in February and Petrohovich was his training officer.
At the time, police said that Sutton and Petrohovich were transporting a man in custody when they were hit by a truck at the intersection of Wilkinson Road and Chamberlayne Avenue.
Police added Sutton, who was driving the cruiser, was heading west on Wilkinson and the truck was heading south of Chamberlayne.
Police later said that Sutton was heading north of Chamberlayne and turning left onto Wilkinson. They did not state who had the right of way at the time of the crash.
A search warrant application filed on April 1, 2022, stated that the truck, a Dodge Ram, that hit Sutton's cruiser was "traveling southbound on Rt 301/Chamberlayne Road approaching the intersection of Wilkinson Road in the right travel lane. The traffic signal controlling North and South lanes of travel was actively working and had changed from green to yellow to red. The Dodge continued towards the intersection, entering the intersection against the red traffic signal at which time the Dodge struck the marked Henrico Police vehicle on the passenger side."
A returned search warrant from Apr. 4, 2022, stated the only item seized by police was the vehicle's airbag control modular.
"A tragic incident happened in Henrico when a driver ran a red light at excessive speed, and impacted a police cruiser driven by Officer Sutton, killing him, and severely injuring a second Henrico police officer and a civilian who was being brought to the jail complex," Henrico Commonwealth's Attorney Shannon Taylor said in a statement following the indictment.
Lankford is due back in court on October 26.
This is a developing story, so anyone with more information can email newstips@wtvr.com to send a tip.
