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April 4, 2023

Virginia Medical Examiner: Irvo Otieno Died by Homicide Due to Asphyxiation 
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The Virginia Medical Examiner's Office has confirmed that 28-year-old
Irvo Otieno died by homicide after he was violently pinned down and
piled on by sheriff's deputies and medical staff at the Central State
Hospital in Petersburg on March 6. Otieno was a 28-year-old Black man
whose violent death during a mental health crisis renewed calls for
police accountability. His official cause of death is listed as
"positional and mechanical asphyxia with restraints." Last month, a
Virginia grand jury indicted 10 people - seven sheriff's deputies and
three hospital workers - on second-degree murder charges for Otieno's
killing.


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