Caroline Ouko, mother of Irvo Otieno, holds a portrait of her son with attorney Ben Crump, left, her older son, Leon Ochieng and attorney Mark Krudys at the Dinwiddie Courthouse in Dinwiddie, Va., on Thursday, March 16, 2023. She said Otieno, who died in a state mental hospital March 6, was “brilliant and creative and bright.”
This undated photo provided by Ben Crump Law shows Irvo Otieno. Video from a state mental hospital shows Otieno, who was handcuffed and shackled, being pinned to the ground by deputies who are now facing second-degree murder charges in his death, according to Otieno's relatives and their legal team, who viewed the footage Thursday, March 16, 2023.
Visitors walk toward Building 114, the S.T.A.R. Center, at Central State Hospital in Dinwiddie County, Va., on May 17, 2018. Seven Virginia sheriff's office employees have been charged with second-degree murder in connection with the death of a 28-year-old man at Central State Hospital last week, a local prosecutor said Tuesday, March 14, 2023.
Caroline Ouko, mother of Irvo Otieno, holds a portrait of her son with attorney Ben Crump, left, and her older son, Leon Ochieng at the Dinwiddie Courthouse in Dinwiddie, Va., on Thursday, March 16, 2023. She said Otieno, who died in a state mental hospital March 6, was “brilliant and creative and bright.”
Caroline Ouko, mother of Irvo Otieno, holds a portrait of her son as she walks out of the Dinwiddie Courthouse with attorney Ben Crump, center left, and her older son, Leon Ochieng, in Dinwiddie, Va., on Thursday, March 16, 2023. She said Otieno, who died in a state mental hospital March 6, was “brilliant and creative and bright.”
Caroline Ouko, mother of Irvo Otieno, holds a portrait of her son at the Dinwiddie Courthouse in Dinwiddie, Va., on Thursday, March 16, 2023. She said Otieno, who died in a state mental hospital March 6, was “brilliant and creative and bright.”
Caroline Ouko, mother of Irvo Otieno, holds a portrait of her son with attorney Ben Crump, left, her older son, Leon Ochieng and attorney Mark Krudys at the Dinwiddie Courthouse in Dinwiddie, Va., on Thursday, March 16, 2023. She said Otieno, who died in a state mental hospital March 6, was “brilliant and creative and bright.”
This undated photo provided by Ben Crump Law shows Irvo Otieno. Video from a state mental hospital shows Otieno, who was handcuffed and shackled, being pinned to the ground by deputies who are now facing second-degree murder charges in his death, according to Otieno's relatives and their legal team, who viewed the footage Thursday, March 16, 2023.
Visitors walk toward Building 114, the S.T.A.R. Center, at Central State Hospital in Dinwiddie County, Va., on May 17, 2018. Seven Virginia sheriff's office employees have been charged with second-degree murder in connection with the death of a 28-year-old man at Central State Hospital last week, a local prosecutor said Tuesday, March 14, 2023.
Caroline Ouko, mother of Irvo Otieno, holds a portrait of her son with attorney Ben Crump, left, and her older son, Leon Ochieng at the Dinwiddie Courthouse in Dinwiddie, Va., on Thursday, March 16, 2023. She said Otieno, who died in a state mental hospital March 6, was “brilliant and creative and bright.”
Caroline Ouko, mother of Irvo Otieno, holds a portrait of her son as she walks out of the Dinwiddie Courthouse with attorney Ben Crump, center left, and her older son, Leon Ochieng, in Dinwiddie, Va., on Thursday, March 16, 2023. She said Otieno, who died in a state mental hospital March 6, was “brilliant and creative and bright.”
Caroline Ouko, mother of Irvo Otieno, holds a portrait of her son at the Dinwiddie Courthouse in Dinwiddie, Va., on Thursday, March 16, 2023. She said Otieno, who died in a state mental hospital March 6, was “brilliant and creative and bright.”
DINWIDDIE, Va. (AP) — Prosecutors plan next week to release the video that led authorities in Virginia to charge seven deputies and three state mental hospital employees with second-degree murder in the death of a handcuffed and shackled man.
The family of Irvo Otieno saw the video of his death Thursday. With their blessing, the footage will be released to the public in the next several days, Dinwiddie County Commonwealth’s Attorney Ann Cabell Baskervill told the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Attorneys for the family described the video to reporters as 12 agonizing minutes of deputies pushing down and smothering Otineo, a Black man whose arms and legs were restrained.
“You can see that they’re putting their back into it. Every part of his body is being pushed down with absolute brutality,” family attorney Mark Krudys said.
Prosecutors said Otieno, 28, didn’t appear to be combative and was sitting in a chair when he was pulled down by officers.
The 12-minute video also showed a lack of urgency to help Otieno after the deputies determined “that he was lifeless and not breathing," Krudys said.
Ten people so far have been charged with second-degree murder in Otieno’s death — seven Henrico County Sheriff’s deputies and three people employed by the hospital.
Attorneys for the people arrested have not seen the video yet.
“They show the plaintiffs’ attorneys the video. But we’re representing these people charged with murder that are locked up. It’s really disappointing. It seems like it’s more important to curry public favor, to try the case in the media, instead of letting the criminal justice process work the way it’s supposed to work," defense attorney Peter Baruch told the Richmond newspaper.
Otieno's case marks the latest example of a Black man's in-custody death that has law enforcement under scrutiny. It follows the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols in Memphis, Tennessee, earlier this year and comes nearly three years after the killing of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis.
Otieno, who was a child when his family emigrated from Kenya and grew up in suburban Richmond, had a history of mental health struggles and was experiencing mental distress at the time of his initial encounter with law enforcement earlier this month, his family and their attorneys said.
That set off a chain of events that led to him spending several days in custody before authorities say he died March 6 as he was being admitted to the Central State Hospital south of Richmond.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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