HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — A Henrico County police officer was killed after a three-vehicle crash along Chamberlayne Road on Wednesday.
Officer Trey Sutton died early Thursday morning following the crash, which sent another officer and an 18-year-old man to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, according to police.
Sutton, who joined Henrico police in June 2021, graduated from the police academy in February and was training in the department’s patrol bureau at the time of the crash. He was 24.
“He was so happy about being in law enforcement and that’s one of the things I remember. He was just elated about having this uniform on and being a part of our family so it’s difficult,” Henrico Police Chief Eric D. English said at a press conference Thursday.
Henrico officers are shrouding their badges and have left flowers on a police cruiser outside the department’s Villa Park Station in honor of Sutton.
“There’s a lot of things that goes on in this profession but the last thing you want as a police chief is to lose one of your members. I look at every member in this division as my responsibility,” English said.
Authorities said a Henrico police cruiser and two other cars crashed at the intersection of Chamberlayne Road (Route 301) and Wilkinson Road on Wednesday evening.
Sutton, the other officer and a third individual in the cruiser were taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, according to police.
An investigation is ongoing but Henrico police said Wednesday that a pickup truck moving south on Chamberlayne collided with the police cruiser at the intersection as it headed west along Wilkinson. The third vehicle was hit along Wilkinson Road.
Police said Thursday that Sutton was driving but investigators are reviewing body-camera video, conducting interviews and trying to recreate the crash scene. It’s still unclear who ran the red light at the intersection, according to English, but alcohol was not a factor in the crash.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin shared a statement Thursday on Sutton’s death: “The First Lady and I are heartbroken by the loss of Henrico Police Officer and Chesterfield resident Trey Marshall Sutton. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of Officer Sutton, the Henrico Police Department, the entire law enforcement community, and the others injured in the crash. This tragedy serves as a constant reminder that our men and women in blue put their lives on the line everyday to protect their communities.”
This story is developing. Stay with 8News for updates.
