Richmond Free Press

Ben Crump petitions DOJ to investigate Irvo Otieno’s death

Civil rights attorney Benjamin L. Crump and co-counsel Mark J. Krudys are requesting that the United States Department of Justice open a criminal investigation into the circumstances of the death of Irvo N. Otieno.

“The resources of the U.S. Department of Justice are necessary to ably and properly prosecute the defendants,” wrote Mr. Crump and Mr. Krudys, who are representing Mr. Otieno’s brother and mother.

“Unless the Department of Justice prosecutes this matter in federal court, the four-day cycle of violence brought to bear upon a young man in mental health crisis will not be fully and ably addressed.”

Mr. Otieno’s death in early March while in the custody of Henrico County Sheriff deputies at Central State Hospital had already captured national attention due to the nature of his death, with deputies and hospital employees laying on top of him while he was face down and restrained on the floor.

Mr. Otieno’s death, which was later ruled a homicide, led to seven Henrico County deputies and three hospital employees being indicted by a Dinwiddie County grand jury. Former Dinwiddie