Video shows Virginia deputies pile on top of shackled man before his death
A PROSECUTOR HAS CHARGED SEVEN SHERIFF’S DEPUTIES AND THREE HOSPITAL STAFFERS WITH SECOND-DEGREE MURDER IN IRVO N. OTIENO’S DEATH.
As many as 10 sheriff’s deputies and medical staff at Virginia’s Central State Hospital can be seen piling on top of a shackled Irvo N. Otieno for approximately 11 minutes until he stops moving, according to new video showing the encounter that led to the 28-year-old Black man’s death.
The hospital surveillance video, which has no sound, shows Otieno’s final moments on March 6, from the time Henrico County sheriff’s deputies drag him into a hospital-admissions room in handcuffs and leg irons, to the 11 minutes in which they restrain Otieno on the floor, to the moment when they release Otieno’s limp body around 4:40 p.m.
Minutes later, video shows workers beginning to apply chest compressions and a defibrillator machine to Otieno’s upper body before a medical technician drapes him with a white sheet at 5:48 p.m.
A Virginia prosecutor has charged seven Henrico County sheriff’s deputies and three staff members at the hospital with seconddegree murder in Otieno’s death, and has said she expects more arrests and charges.
The prosecutor, Ann Cabell Baskervill, said she was planning to release the video to the public on Tuesday. The Washington Post obtained it ahead of the release by clicking on Dropbox links, which Baskervill listed in a public court filing as part of her obligation to turn over relevant information to defense attorneys. Attorneys for two defendants sought to block the release of the video in court filings submitted Monday, arguing that by releasing evidence or giving statements to the news media, prosecutors could influence the pool of potential jurors, and prevent the defendants from receiving a fair trial.
A grand jury in Dinwiddie County, Va., where the hospital is located, indicted the 10 defendants Tuesday morning, according to court records. Baskervill said they face the same second-degree murder charge that authorities first filed in a criminal information last week. The prosecutor has said Otieno died of asphyxia as law enforcement officers and hospital staff piled on him.
Otieno’s family and their civil rights attorneys, Ben Crump and Mark Krudys, viewed the hospital surveillance video last week and urged prosecutors to release it publicly.
“My son was treated like a dog, worse than a dog,” Otieno’s mother, Caroline Ouko, told reporters last week at a news conference with the family attorneys. “I saw it with my own eyes in the video. He was treated inhumanely, and it was traumatic, and it was systemic.”
Because the video had no sound, it was not clear what was said, but one of the deputies appeared to be laughing at one point, Krudys said.
The video footage also shows Otieno arriving at the hospital on March 6, and the Dropbox links in Baskervill’s filing included 911 tapes of hospital workers apparently calling for help after the incident and other emergency communications.
Surveillance video taken outside Central State Hospital shows two SUVs pulling up at 3:58 p.m., according to timestamps on the footage. For nearly 20 minutes, sheriff’s deputies and hospital staff are seen milling around the entrance, close to the vehicles. At 4:16 p.m., a shackled and handcuffed Otieno is taken out of the back seat of the first SUV and walked by deputies into the hospital.
Footage taken just inside the hospital shows the deputies forcing Otieno forward – he remains on his feet – as hospital staff trail behind through the entrance. Sheriff’s deputies appear in control of the situation as Otieno is brought down a hallway and through an open door at 4:17 p.m.
Otieno is next seen in surveillance video timestamped at 4:19 p.m., as he enters the admissions area of the hospital. The roughly two-minute gap – based on timestamps – is not accounted for in video reviewed by The Post on Monday.
Four to five sheriff’s deputies can be seen dragging Otieno into the admissions room. Then, two sheriff’s deputies from Henrico County get into position, holding down Otieno as he sits on the ground, with his back propped against a seat.
But after Otieno, who is in handcuffs and leg irons, appears to make a movement shortly before 4:28 p.m., more deputies and hospital staff bear down on him. At least eight people pile on top of Otieno, some holding down his legs, while others restrain his upper body.
At 4:31 p.m., the group seems to lose its grip on Otieno for a moment, and they roll him around on the ground. Nine or 10 people are holding down Otieno. Hospital staff are in the room watching or helping to restrain him.
Deputies and staff ease their hold on Otieno and roll him onto his side moments before 4:40 p.m. Otieno is shirtless and appears not to be moving. One minute later, a medical worker lowers the top of Otieno’s pants and administers an injection. He is still immobile. Resuscitation efforts, including chest compressions and defibrillator charges, take up less than one hour on the video.
“You’ll note that those resuscitation efforts were very slow in beginning,” Krudys said Monday. Otieno’s
mother wants the public to see the video, Krudys said.
“She feels very strongly that the public should see what happened to her son,” he said.
Attorneys for two of the deputies have previously said that their clients are innocent. An attorney for one of the hospital workers charged in the case criticized the prosecutor’s filing with the Dropbox links.
“We are concerned that this response was filed by the prosecution with the intention of making the information available to the media and public after having received a motion by the defense seeking to prevent just such a disclosure,” Douglas Ramseur,
who represents Wavie Jones, said in an email Monday night. “We are considering all our legal remedies.”
Baskervill did not respond to requests for comments Monday night.
In an email Tuesday morning, the prosecutor said she felt strongly that the public should see the video, adding that the court would be able to screen any potential jurors for bias at the start of a trial.