Virginia deputies pile on top of Irvo Otieno before his death
Virginia deputies pile on top of Irvo Otieno, a mentally ill man, before his death.
A graphic video has been released Tuesday showing the moment sheriff’s deputies and workers at a Virginia mental hospital pinned Irvo Otieno to the ground before launching unsuccessful resuscitation efforts on the 28-year-old Black man.
The emergence of the footage surrounding the March 6 incident comes as a grand jury formally indicted seven Henrico County Sheriff’s deputies and three workers at Central State Hospital in Petersburg. They each have been charged with second-degree murder.
(Dinwiddle County Commonwealth's Attorney's Office)
Otieno first came into the custody of law enforcement on March 3, with Henrico County Police — a separate agency — saying that officers responding to a report of a possible burglary in suburban Richmond encountered Otieno, and based on his behavior, put him under an emergency custody order and took him to a local hospital for evaluation.
The video begins with law enforcement leading Otieno, who is handcuffed and shackled, toward a chair in a room. But he slumps down onto the floor.
VIRGINIA PROSECUTOR TO RELEASE VIDEO OF BLACK MAN WHO DIED WHILE IN CUSTODY AT MENTAL HOSPITAL
Otieno then appears to start moving again while being held by law enforcement, prompting more people in the room to join their effort to restrain him.
At one point, at least 10 people can be seen trying to keep Otieno close to the ground.
The crowd eventually backs away from Otieno as he is not moving, with his hands and arms appearing limp.
Video Virginia deputies dogpile on top of Irvo Otieno shortly before his death. (Dinwiddle County Commonwealth's Attorney's Office)
Staff at the facility then start resuscitation efforts and medical equipment is seen being brought into the room where the struggle happened.
Relatives of Otieno were shown the video last week by a prosecutor, Dinwiddie Commonwealth's Attorney Ann Cabell Baskervill. Attorneys for at least two of the defendants have sought to block its release to the public, arguing that it could hinder a fair trial.
BLACK VIRGINIA MAN PINNED DOWN, SMOTHERED TO DEATH BY DEPUTIES AT VIRGINIA HOSPITAL, PROSECUTOR SAYS
"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," Ben Crump, an attorney representing Otieno’s family, said last week.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Baskervill and Crump’s office on Tuesday for further comment.
"He certainly did not deserve to be smothered to death, which is what happened," Baskervill has said in court. The workers were holding him down, "from his braids down to his toes," she added.
Final autopsy results have not been publicly released.
This undated photo provided by Ben Crump Law shows Irvo Otieno. (Courtesy of Ben Crump Law/AP)
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Otieno’s mother said the Kenyan native came to the U.S. when he was 4 years old and grew up in the Richmond area, but he began experiencing mental health issues in the final year of high school, The Associated Press reports.
At the time he first came into contact with law enforcement in early March, he was experiencing mental distress, his family added, according to the AP.
Fox News’ Greg Wehner at The Associated Press contributed to this report.
