Family sees ‘brutality’ in video of death
DINWIDDIE, Va. — Video from a state mental hospital shows a Black Virginia man who was handcuffed and shackled being pinned to the ground by deputies who are now facing second-degree murder charges in his death, according to relatives of the man and their attorneys who viewed the footage Thursday.
Speaking at a news conference shortly after watching the video, the family and attorneys condemned the brutal treatment they said Irvo Otieno, 28, was subjected to, first at a local jail and then at the state hospital where he died March 6. They called on the U.S. Department of Justice to intervene in the case, saying Otieno’s constitutional rights were clearly violated.
Otieno’s case marks the latest example of a Black man’s in-custody death that has law enforcement under scrutiny. It follows the the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols in Memphis, Tenn., and the killing of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis.
Ben Crump, who represented Floyd’s family and is now working with Otieno’s, quickly drew a comparison at the news conference.
“It is truly shocking that nearly three years after the brutal killing of George Floyd by police, another family is grieving a loved one who allegedly died in nearly the exact same manner — being pinned down by police for 12 agonizing minutes,” Crump said.
Mark Krudys, another attorney for Otieno’s family, said the video showed all seven of the deputies now facing charges pushing down on Otieno, who was in handcuffs and leg irons.
“You can see that they’re putting their back into it. Every part of his body is being pushed down with absolute brutality. You cannot even see his image many times,” he said.
Ten people so far have been charged with seconddegree murder in Otieno’s death: the seven Henrico County Sheriff ’s deputies were charged Tuesday and additional charges were announced Thursday against three people who were employed by the hospital.
The footage that the family watched Thursday has not been publicly released. But Dinwiddie County Commonwealth’s Attorney Ann Cabell Baskervill also described it in court Wednesday, saying at the first hearing for the deputies that Otieno was smothered to death, local news outlets reported.
Baskervill said in court that the officers had no justification for putting Otieno, who was being checked into the hospital, on the floor. Like the family said Thursday, she said Otieno did not appear combative and was sitting in a chair before being pulled to the floor by the officers, the Richmond Times-dispatch reported.
Otieno, a 28-year-old from Henrico County, had a history of mental health struggles and was experiencing mental distress at the time of his initial encounter with law enforcement earlier this month, his family and their attorneys said at the news conference. He died March 6 as he was being admitted to Central State Hospital south of Richmond, Baskervill said in a news release Tuesday.