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Prosecutor seeks to drop charges against five deputies in Irvo Otieno death

Cases continue against three others charged in the death of the 28-year-old Black man at a state mental hospital in 2023

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May 5, 2024 at 5:21 p.m. EDT
Family members approach the casket during the funeral for Irvo Otieno in March 2023. Otieno died after being restrained by sheriff’s deputies and hospital workers at Central State Hospital in Virginia last year. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post)
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The Virginia prosecutor investigating the death of Irvo Otieno is seeking to withdraw charges against five law enforcement officers who were indicted on murder counts last year, curtailing the scope of what was once a sprawling case to just three defendants.

Otieno, a 28-year-old Black man whose family said he was in mental distress when he arrived at Central State Hospital for treatment, died there of asphyxia as Henrico County sheriff’s deputies and hospital workers restrained him for 11 minutes, according to surveillance video and the medical examiner.