On a Monday evening in May, Marcus-David Peters, a 24-year-old high school biology teacher, was involved in a chain of events on a Richmond highway that ended in his death. Peters, described by family and authorities as experiencing a mental health crisis, had earlier been in a minor car accident and later crashed on the ramp to Interstate 95. He emerged unclothed and unarmed and ran erratically in the roadway.

A Richmond police officer, Michael Nyantakyi, confronted Peters. Peters was taken to a hospital and died of his injuries. The initial Commonwealth’s Attorney found the officer’s actions justified and did not file charges, a decision that sparked protests from Peters’ family and community activists.

A later elected Commonwealth’s Attorney reopened the investigation, but that review also produced no criminal charges, and a 2020 grand jury declined to indict. The case did lead to passage of the Marcus Alert system in Virginia, intended to route mental health responses to people in crisis.