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 Commonwealth’s Attorney Ann Cabell Baskervill would later drop the charges against two of the hospital employees as part of her work as the leading prosecutor in the case.

Ms. Baskervill resigned from the case and exited her role last week, and Jonathan Bourlier was selected as interim commonwealth’s attorney by Dinwiddie Circuit Court judges. Mr. Bourlier’s selection is cited as the major cause for the petition, which was filed Monday, days before he was set to begin work on the case Wednesday.

As a defense attorney with most of his experience in family law, alongside work in real estate and criminal law, Mr. Crump and Mr. Kurdys assert that Mr. Bourlier doesn’t have the experience necessary for the role or the case.

“In our opinion, the newly appointed CA and his similarly new, small staff – with an ample caseload apart from the indictment of Mr. Otieno’s killers – are not adequately prepared to prosecute the eight defendants, all of whom have separate, experienced counsel,” Mr. Crump and Mr. Krudys wrote.

Mr. Crump and Mr. Krudys also noted that Mr. Otieno experienced days of improper treatment leading up to his death, including being taken from Parham Doctors’ Hospital and restrained for hours in jail without medication, and being beaten by officers, as cause for the DOJ to take on the case themselves. Federal laws banning excessive force by police also was cited as a reason for the DOJ’s involvement.

Mr. Bourlier is currently running for the office of commonwealth’s attorney for Dinwiddie against Amanda Nicole Mann, with the election still set for Nov. 7 later this year.

The DOJ has not yet responded to the petition.