Irvo Otieno death: Medical examiner says cause of death is homicide

A medical examiner has declared Irvo Otieno’s death a homicide, the latest development in an incident involving Virginia Sheriff’s deputies and hospital staff at Central State Hospital, a psychiatric facility.

Irvo Otieno died on March 6 after being dragged out of his room and pinned to the ground by deputies from the Henrico County Sheriff’s Office. Police pushed him to the ground and piled on top of him for nearly 11 minutes. Hospital staffers looked on without interfering.

In a preliminary report, the Virginia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled that Otieno’s cause of death was asphyxiation. On Monday, the final report was released which indicated that the official cause of death was “positional and mechanical asphyxia with restraints.” The official manner of death is “homicide.”

The Otieno family’s attorneys, Ben Crump and Mark Krudys, released a statement following the ruling. They said that the official cause and manner of death did not come as a surprise to them as it corroborated what the video evidence showed, Irvo was excessively restrained while being held down and denied the medical help and compassion he needed.

Otieno had been struggling with mental health issues for a long time and had been taken from his home to a county jail three days earlier. He was taken after he was reported by a neighbor for entering her yard and taking solar-paneled lights out of the ground. He was eventually taken to Henrico County Jail after being evaluated.

On March 6, officers brought Otieno to the hospital, and later on, they were seen dragging him on the floor and pinning his arms and legs. The officers remained on top of him until Otieno died.

Seven sheriff’s deputies and three hospital staff members were charged with second-degree murder on March 21 by Dinwiddie County Prosecutor Ann Cabell Baskervill, and the grand jury brought the indictment down on March 20.

The deputies who were charged are Kaiyell Dajour Sanders, Dwayne Alan Bramble, Bradley Thomas Disse, Jermaine Lavar Branch, Brandon Edwards Rodgers, Tabitha Renee Levere, and Randy Joseph Boyer.

Charges came down following the release of the surveillance footage that depicted the deputies’ use of force against Otieno. Baskervill announced that she would release the video to the public despite defense attorneys filing motions to block its release.

Caroline Ouko, Otieno’s mother, after viewing the footage, said that what she saw was heartbreaking.

The incident happened months after the violent video footage that showed the death of Tyre Nichols at the hands of Memphis Police Department officers in Tennessee was released.