RICHMOND, Va. — A judge in Virginia has approved a request from prosecutors to dismiss charges against two individuals involved in the 2023 death of Irvo Otieno, who tragically died after being restrained at a state psychiatric facility for nearly 11 minutes.

Chief Judge Joseph M. Teefey Jr. of the Dinwiddie Circuit Court granted the motions on Friday to withdraw involuntary manslaughter charges against Henrico County Sheriff’s deputies Kaiyell Sanders and Brandon Rodgers, who were implicated in Otieno’s case.

According to W. Edward Riley, an attorney for Sanders, the legal team was confident that the evidence did not support the actions being alleged against his client. “We knew the evidence and we knew the evidence didn’t support the actions claimed,” Riley stated on Monday.

Irvo Otieno, a 28-year-old Black man, was taken into custody during a mental health crisis. Surveillance footage showed a group of deputies and hospital staff restraining him while he was under handcuffs and leg shackles. A medical examiner later determined that his death resulted from “positional and mechanical asphyxia with restraints.”

Otieno’s passing triggered widespread public outrage and drew national attention. His mother, Caroline Ouko, expressed her deep sorrow over the loss, stating that her son, a hip-hop songwriter, deserved justice. “When they took my baby away … they took him away from his brother. They took him away from his nieces. They took him away from his friends,” she lamented.

Initially, prosecutors had indicted ten individuals on second-degree murder charges; however, they later dropped charges against two defendants three months later. In the following year, five additional defendants also had their charges dismissed.

While the charges against Rodgers, Sanders, and Wavie Jones, a security staff member at the hospital, were initially maintained, they were later revised to involuntary manslaughter. In October, a jury acquitted Jones of the charges against him.

In light of Jones’ acquittal, the local Commonwealth’s attorney remarked in a statement on Monday that she reassessed the evidence and felt it was necessary to drop the remaining charges against Sanders and Rodgers.