Ten charged in ‘tortured’ death of Virginia man at mental hospital

TAccording to Otieno’s family and attorneys, there have been en people charged in the death Irvo Otieno. Otieno, an American man, was killed in Dinwiddie county on March 6. He had been handcuffed and shackled while suffering from a mental illness.

Otieno’s murder case is being investigated and the defendants are charged with second-degree murder. Seven Henrico County Sheriff’s Deputies were arrested Tuesday. Additional charges were filed Thursday against three individuals who worked at the hospital.

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Otieno’s family members and lawyers viewed footage of his death on Thursday, which has not been released publicly. They expressed their shock at the horrible nature of the event. “What I saw today was heartbreaking, America. It was disturbing. It was traumatic. My son was tortured,” Caroline Ouko is Otieno’s mother. Associated Press. According to Otieno’s constitutional rights, the family’s lawyers have requested the Justice Department to intervene in the matter.

“My son was treated like a dog, worse than a dog,” Ouko was added. “I saw it with my own eyes on the video.”

Otieno, 28, was reportedly experiencing a mental health crisis on March 3 when a neighbor called the police because they were concerned about him gathering lawn lights from a yard, according to the news outlet.

Otieno’s family supported him being taken to the hospital, family attorney Mark Krudys said, but his mother asked police not to be aggressive with him. At the local hospital, police said Otieno became “Officers may be physically attacked” and he was held on three counts of assault on a law enforcement officer, disorderly conduct in a hospital, and vandalism.

The victim’s family claim he was mistreated while in jail, including being pepper sprayed, and officers eventually went into his cell and carried him out “By his legs and arms” to be transported to Central State Hospital. Otieno was held down for 12 minutes while he was restrained, eventually being smothered to death, Dinwiddie County Attorney Ann Cabell Baskervill told a judge on Wednesday, per the Richmond-Times Dispatch.

Baskervill said Otieno did not appear to be combative and officers had no legal jurisdiction for putting him on the floor and kneeling on his body while he was being transported to the state hospital.

Otieno’s death has troubled many in the country as being eerily similar to that of George Floyd’s and dozens of other black men and women in the U.S. It also has called into consciousness the nature of law enforcement responding to mental health distress calls.

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Two of the deputies were released from jail on bond, according to reports, while the others remain in custody.

Another one of Otieno’s family’s attorneys is Ben Crump, who is known for representing families in civil rights cases. Crump said Otieno’s family believes the public should see the footage of his death.