Video shows cops overpowering, punching jailed Virginia man
10 face charges in death; family pushes back against defense attorneys
RICHMOND — New surveillance video released Wednesday shows a group of sheriff ’s deputies rushing into Irvo Otieno’s jail cell in Henrico County and physically overpowering him, with one appearing to punch down multiple times before the officers carry his limp body out to a transport van.
The video was recorded March 6, several hours before Henrico County sheriff ’s deputies brought Otieno, 28, into Central State Hospital, a psychiatric hospital in Dinwiddie County roughly 50 miles away. In an admissions room there, previously released footage shows a group of seven sheriff’s deputies piling on top of Otieno and pinning him to the floor for more than 11 minutes. He was asphyxiated in the process, according to the local prosecutor.
Both videos were released by the Dinwiddie County prosecutor, Ann Cabell Baskervill, who has charged 10 people — seven deputies and three hospital employees — with second-degree murder in Otieno’s death. A grand jury confirmed the charges with indictments Tuesday.
Otieno was taken into custody March 3 by Henrico County police, who were responding to a report of breaking and entering.
Otieno had walked to the neighbor’s lawn and picked up some light fixtures on the property and was banging on the front door before his mother retrieved him.
Otieno had a long history of struggling with mental illness. His mother, Caroline Ouko, told the police at the time that he was in mental distress. Eventually he was taken to a nearby hospital in an ambulance.
“When they took him to the hospital, I knew he was going to come home,” Ouko said Monday.
But later that day, police took Otieno from the hospital to the Henrico County Jail, where he was held on charges of assaulting a law enforcement officer, disorderly conduct and vandalism. He spent the weekend there, as his mother tried to find out where he was and get him his medication. On March 6, a judge ordered Otieno held without bond.
In the new video, which begins inside the jail a little before 2:30 p.m. that Monday, a group of officers can be seen standing outside a jail cell, as Otieno slams his hands up against the window. After Otieno pushes out an item of jail clothing that officers tried to deliver through the foodtray slot, a struggle breaks out. At least five officers appear to grapple with Otieno through the slot.
After that struggle ends, Otieno appears to be in distress through the window, covering his face with his hands. An officer opens the door and six quickly rush in, bringing Otieno to the ground. Though Otieno is mostly blocked from view at this point, one officer can be seen throwing multiple punches.
The officers, at times joined by others, appear to crowd over Otieno on the floor. After 14 minutes, six officers step out into the hallway carrying Otieno’s limp body.
Another video from March 6 released Wednesday shows the officers carrying Otieno, whose pants are halfway down his legs, into a carport. They initially set him down behind a white van and then carry his body around to the side of the van before bringing him to its open rear doors. Eight officers lift him up and put him inside. The doors are closed, and the van leaves the carport at 3:09 p.m.
Otieno was pronounced dead less than three hours later.
Some defense attorneys also said their clients were only trying to restrain Otieno and there was no evidence of an intent to kill him.
“At no time did he realize that Mr. Otieno ... was in any danger whatsoever,” said attorney Caleb Kershner, who represents one of the deputies.
But Otieno’s family and their lawyers, including prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump, pushed back against attempts to minimize the role they say individuals played in Otieno’s death.
Family attorney Mark Krudys and Crump said the defense attorneys were offering “excuses” for what the video showed while trying to cast Otieno, who was shackled and handcuffed, as combative.
“They are trying to say ... ‘Well, he was struggling. Well, he was still resisting.’ No he wasn’t. He was trying to breathe,” Crump said at a Tuesday news conference.