Remembrances, calls for reform at Irvo Otieno’s funeral

By SARAH RANKIN
Associated Press

NORTH CHESTERFIELD, Va. (AP) — Family, friends and other mourners gathered at a Virginia church to remember Irvo Otieno at a funeral service. Attendees at the Wednesday service celebrated his life and called for mental health care and policing reforms after the 28-year-old Black man’s death earlier this month while in custody at a state psychiatric hospital. Otieno, whose family said he had long struggled with mental illness, died March 6 after he was pinned to the floor by sheriff’s deputies and others while being admitted to Central State Hospital in Dinwiddie County. Seven deputies and three hospital workers have been charged with second-degree murder in his death, and an investigation is ongoing.