PRESCOTT — A former Prescott police officer who fatally shot an unarmed man while trying to question him as the man fled toward his home over two years ago received the minimum sentence of seven years in prison.
Brian Sutton, 27, was clad in an orange jumpsuit issued to jail inmates, with his hands and ankles shackled, as he was sentenced in Yavapai County Superior Court on the afternoon of Aug. 3.
A jury had previously convicted him of manslaughter.
It is very rare for a police officer to be criminally charged — much less convicted — for shooting someone in the line of duty in the United States.
The sentencing stemmed from an incident that occurred on June 8, 2024, in which he and another officer questioned Daniel Leslie, 34, over allegations from a former girlfriend that he had threatened her, according to a federal lawsuit filed by Leslie's wife and mother.
Leslie told the officers, "I’ve committed no crime," and declined to speak with them further as he tried loading a bike into the backseat of his car, according to the lawsuit. Sutton ordered Leslie to put down the bike and to walk toward him.
Leslie let go of the bike but instead walked toward his carport — away from Sutton — when the latter threatened to shoot Leslie if he tried entering the house, the lawsuit said. Leslie began to run toward his home when Sutton shot him. Leslie was pronounced dead at a hospital shortly after.
The Arizona Department of Public Safety investigated the shooting and submitted its findings to the Yavapai County Attorney’s Office, which referred the case to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office in September 2024 because of a conflict of interest.
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office announced a grand jury had indicted Sutton on one count of manslaughter in May 2025 and noted that Leslie was unarmed at the time.
The trial began on June 8 — the two-year anniversary of Leslie’s death — with the jury reaching a guilty verdict on June 12, according to court records.
While manslaughter has a sentencing range between seven and 21 years in Arizona, prosecutors opted not to argue for aggravating factors, halving the maximum sentence to 10 1/2 years.
Sutton did not make a statement during his sentencing.
'This was not a desire to kill'
Sutton’s attorney, Michael Voyles, said his client likely wouldn’t have been charged had he lied and claimed he believed Leslie had been going for a nearby hatchet when he decided to shoot him.
“My client is a very honest individual,” Voyles said.
Sutton’s police training also had the unfortunate effect of having him perceive potential dangers by seeing someone start to run when that danger might not have existed, Voyles argued.
“That split-second judgment I’m sure — I’m confident — that my client wishes he could take back now,” Voyles said. “He never once was happy that someone died. This was not a vengeance. This was not a desire to kill.”
Leslie's mother: Daniel is the 3rd son she's lost
Maricopa County prosecutor Neha Bhatia read a statement from Wendy Leslie, Daniel’s mother, who disclosed she had already lost two of her four sons before the fatal shooting took Daniel away, too.
She had constantly suffered flashbacks and night terrors since Daniel’s death, and was eventually diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder two months after the shooting.
Wendy also lamented at how her son was portrayed during the trial.
“He was portrayed as some kind of psychopath, raging lunatic or a violent criminal,” she wrote. “Although he did have a past, he was absolutely not a violent person. He was very sweet-natured and kind, and he was loved by his friends and family.”
A woman who identified herself as Leslie’s sister-in-law tearfully read a statement describing how she and her husband to had explain to their children that the very law enforcement they had been told to trust would protect them had killed their uncle.
A man who described himself as Leslie’s best friend said Leslie had talked him out of dying by suicide multiple times and helped him find an adoptive family and a future he once believed to be out of reach.
"I learned he was turning his life around," the man said of Leslie "I was overwhelmed with hope because I believed I would finally have my brother back in my life again. That opportunity has now been taken away from me."
A victim advocate read a statement from a close family friend, who said life felt like a nightmare from which she could never wake since Leslie was killed.
After all the speakers had commented, Bhatia said she had read all of the voluminous letters that had been submitted in support of Sutton and asked that he be sentenced to the minimum sentence of seven years in prison.
Before sentencing Sutton, Phelan impressed upon Leslie’s friends and family that the length of Sutton’s sentence did not represent the importance of Leslie’s life nor the impact its loss had on them.
Phelan then sentenced Sutton to seven years in prison, with 54 days credited for the time he spent in jail.
Another Arizona officer was convicted of manslaughter in 2013
In previous Arizona cases in which officers have been charged, Richard Chrisman received a seven-year prison sentence in 2013 after the then-Phoenix police officer shot and killed 29-year-old Daniel Rodriguez, who was unarmed, and his dog during a domestic violence call on Oct. 5, 2010.
Chrisman's partner, Officer Sergio Vigalio, submitted a report saying Chrisman entered Rodriguez’s apartment and pointed a gun at the man’s head while saying the gun was his warrant.
Vigalio testified at Chrisman’s trial that he had de-escalated the situation and advised Rodriguez to leave the area on his bike when Chrisman shot him twice in the chest — killing him.
A jury convicted Chrisman of aggravated assault but couldn't reach a verdict on the second-degree murder and animal cruelty charges. Chrisman eventually pleaded guilty to manslaughter to avoid another trial.
Chrisman was released from prison on Aug. 29, 2019, according to Arizona Department of Corrections records.
Former Mesa police Officer Philip "Mitch" Brailsford was charged with second-degree murder in the 2016 shooting of Daniel Shaver, an unarmed Texas man who was on his knees begging for his life. Brailsford was ultimately acquitted after a jury found him not guilty in December 2017.
Shaver’s widow, Laney Sweet, settled with the city of Mesa for $8 million.
Reach the reporter Perry Vandell at perry.vandell@arizonarepublic.com or 480-341-9433. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @PerryVandell.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Ex-Prescott officer sentenced to 7 years after shooting unarmed man
