Death of a man restrained in a Virginia jail is homicide, authorities say

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) — The death of a Virginia man who was restrained in jail has been ruled a homicide, while the deputies involved no longer work for the local sheriff’s office, authorities said Friday.

News outlets in southeastern Virginia report that Rolin Hill, 34, died at a hospital several days after being restrained at the Virginia Beach jail in June.

Hill had been arrested on charges of trespassing, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct, the Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Office said in a statement at the time. The office said Hill was denied bond and booked into the facility, where he became uncooperative and combative.

Hill was restrained before he experienced a medical emergency and was taken to the hospital, the sheriff’s office said in June. Virginia Beach Sheriff Rocky Holcomb said his office was investigating but also asked the Virginia State Police to conduct an independent review,

Donna Price, a spokesperson for the Tidewater Medical Examiner’s Office, told The Virginian-Pilot on Friday that Hill died from “positional and mechanical asphyxia due to restraint with neck and torso compression.”