The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of Virginia issued a statement declaring Irvo Otieno’s dea†h a homicide by asphyxiation. After an investigation, the medical examiner’s office determined that the 28-year-old died from “positional and mechanical asphyxia with restraints,” as reported.
On March 6, while being admitted to a state-run mental health facility, Otieno died. Seven sheriff’s deputies and three hospital personnel have been charged with second-degree murder in his killing. Otieno’s loved ones claim he was experiencing a mental breakdown at the time.
Dinwiddie County Commonwealth’s Attorney Ann Baskervill has alleged the staff “smothered him to dea†h” throughout the intake procedure.
After allegedly assaulting three hospital staff members, Otieno was sent from the county jail to Central State Hospital, a state-run mental health facility south of Richmond.
According to a statement released by the law offices of Ben Crump and Mark Krudys, Otieno’s mother, Caroline Ouko, was initially dumbfounded after hearing the official decision of the medical examiner.
In a second statement, Crump and Krudys noted that the medical examiner’s findings are “not shocking” because they correspond to what is seen in the leaked CCTV film.
What was shown in the video was confirmed by the official statement. Irvo was shackled at the ankles and handcuffed at the wrists and not allowed to breathe while lying on his back. Crump said, “For more than 11 minutes, the ten officer/hospital defendants pounded down forcefully on every area of Irvo’s body until he was limp and lifeless.
According to Ouko, who made the claim a month ago, requires medication for a mental ailment. “(you) wouldn’t even know something was wrong,” Ouko said of her son’s condition, adding that “he would go into some kind of discomfort and then you know he needs to visit a doctor.”
Whether or if the hospital staff members have access to lawyers has not been confirmed by CNN. Henrico Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 4, the local police union, has issued a statement saying its members “stand by” the seven deputies accused in Otieno’s dea†h.
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What was the Cause of Dea†h of Otieno?
Henrico County police officers met Otieno on March 3 after responding to a probable burglary. After speaking with and observing Otieno, cops and the county’s crisis intervention team issued an emergency custody order, police said.
If there are reasonable grounds to believe that a person’s mental illness makes them a danger to themselves or others, Virginia law allows for the issuance of an emergency custody order.
After arresting Otieno, police allege he became “physically assaultive” at hospital staff when they carried him there. The police arrested him and placed him in Henrico County Prison.
Otieno was sent to the Dinwiddie County mental health hospital three days later, but he passed away while being admitted. Otieno allegedly got “combative” and “physically restrained” during the intake process, according to a statement released by the attorney’s office on March 14.
A prosecution released surveillance footage of Otieno’s dea†h last month, and it begins with him being taken into a room while shackled to wrists and ankles, and then into an upright sat position on the floor.
After 10 minutes, the odds seem to be on his side, as three sheriff’s deputies have Otieno in custody. When Otieno jerks, the other five deputies and laborers rush in to hold him to the ground.
One deputy can be seen shaking Otieno’s hair and attempting to take a neck pulse after 12 minutes of Otieno being pinned to the ground, but Otieno remains unresponsive. Otieno’s limbs remain restrained for another three minutes before CPR is administered.
Speakers at Otieno’s funeral service last week urged a change in Virginia’s approach to law enforcement and mental health services.
Crump urged the grieving crowd that mental health courts might be established so that people with mental illness would be treated as patients rather than as “criminals and degenerates not worthy of dignity and respect.” Respect and honor were due Irvo.
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