Charges dropped against five deputies in death of Irvo Otieno

The mother of a Virginia man who died after being pinned to the floor by sheriff’s deputies and medical staff members for more than 10 minutes as he was being admitted to a psychiatric hospital last year expressed outrage Monday over a prosecutor's decision to withdraw murder charges against five sheriff's deputies.

A judge on Sunday granted Dinwiddie County Commonwealth Attorney Amanda Mann’s motions to withdraw charges against the deputies in the March 6, 2023, death of Irvo Otieno, 28.

Ten people, including seven sheriff’s deputies and three hospital workers, were initially charged with second-degree murder in Otieno's death, but charges were later dropped against two of the hospital employees. Charges now remain against just two deputies and one hospital employee.

Mann said in a statement Monday that her office had filed motions on Friday to dismiss the charges against deputies Randy Joseph Boyer, Dwayne Alan Bramble, Jermaine Lavar Branch, Bradley Thomas Disse and Tabitha Renee Levere.

They were to be tried separately this year. In her motion, Mann wrote that the order of their trials was of “strategic importance” and that the dates set by her predecessor were not “sound and competent prosecutorial decision making.”

“The motions speak for themselves; therefore, this Office has no further information to provide in the cases,” Mann said.

Mann could still seek to renew the charges, Mark Krudys, an attorney for Otieno’s family, said.

Otieno’s mother, Caroline Ouko, said Monday that she and her lawyers had met with Mann and objected to her motion to withdraw the charges.

“We did not endorse her plan,” Ouko said Monday at a news conference with Krudys. Another attorney, Benjamin Crump, appeared virtually.

Ouko called the dropped charges “a radical, reckless decision with great ramifications for justice for Irvo Otieno.” She called on the Justice Department to intervene.

“We hope that the Dinwiddie commonwealth attorney can do her job. And if she is not willing to prosecute, the DOJ, where are you? Where are you? The Department of Justice, where are you?” Ouko said, her voice breaking. “It is time. It is time for you to bring your boots to Richmond and stand for Irvo. And get justice for my son.”

A spokesperson for the Justice Department confirmed receipt of requests to investigate Otieno’s death. “We are closely monitoring the state criminal case regarding this matter, and we have no further comment at this time,” the spokesperson said.

Otieno was arrested on March 3, 2023, after Henrico County police officers responded to a possible burglary call, the police department said. Officers placed him under an emergency custody order, which under state law is used in cases of mental illness, and took him to a hospital for further evaluation, a police statement said. At the hospital, police said, Otieno “became physically assaultive towards officers.”

He was then taken to the Henrico County Jail and charged with three counts of assault on a law enforcement officer and one count each of disorderly conduct in a hospital and vandalism.

On March 6, 2023, he was taken to a state psychiatric hospital, Central State, in Dinwiddie County, where he died after being pressed to the floor for about 11 minutes by a group of Henrico County sheriff’s deputies and hospital employees.

Surveillance video from the hospital, which was released without audio, showed sheriff’s deputies entering a room, dragging Otieno and forcing him to the floor, where they restrained him until his death, which was ruled a homicide by asphyxiation.

Otieno’s family has said he had a long history of mental health problems.

Charges are still pending against two sheriff's deputies, Brandon Edward Rodgers and Kaiyell Dajour Sanders, and Wavie Lavon Jones, a Central State Hospital employee, according to Mann’s office. Their attorneys did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Attorneys for four of the deputies who had charges dropped on Monday — Boyer, Branch, Disse and Levere — did not immediately respond to requests for comment. An attorney for the fifth, Bramble, said they were pleased with the decision.

“We’re pleased that this prosecutor was willing to make a decision that was based on the law and the evidence rather than other factors,” Russ Stone said.

Ouko said she believed all of those originally charged shared equal culpability.

“He was restrained, they had him,” said Crump, who also represents the families of Tyre Nichols and George Floyd. “He wasn’t going anywhere. He was in the mental health hospital, for God’s sake. Why the need to put all this weight on top of him to the point of him suffocating to death?”

In September, Otieno’s family reached an $8.5 million settlement with the state and the county and sheriff whose deputies were involved in restraining him. The settlement agreement said they had not admitted any liability and denied that their actions caused Otieno’s death.