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Prosecutor: Black man smothered to death at mental hospital
Visitors walk toward Building 114, the STAR. Center, at Central State Hospital in Dinwiddie County, Virginia, 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. (Bob Brown/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP)
Latest News
March 16, 2023

Prosecutor: Black man smothered to death at mental hospital

DINWIDDIE, Virginia (AP) — Security camera footage from a state mental hospital shows a black Virginia man who was handcuffed and shackled being pinned down by the deputies who are now facing second-degree murder charges in his death, a prosecutor said in court.

Dinwiddie County Commonwealth’s Attorney Ann Cabell Baskervill said during the seven deputies’ first court hearing Wednesday that Irvo Otieno was smothered to death, local news outlets reported.

The officers had no justification for putting Otieno, who was being checked in, on the floor, Baskervill said. The prosecutor said Otieno did not appear combative and was sitting in a chair before being pulled to the floor by the officers, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.

It was a “demonstration of power that was unlawful,” the prosecutor said, according to the newspaper.

Otieno, a 28-year-old from Henrico County, 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, according to statements from his family and one of their attorneys. He died March 6 as he was being admitted to Central State Hospital south of Richmond, Baskervill said in a news release Tuesday announcing the charges against seven Henrico County Sheriff’s deputies.

Otieno’s family was expected to view video of the events that preceded his death on Thursday, according to a news release from his attorneys, Mark Krudys and Ben Crump, a civil rights attorney known for representing victims in police brutality cases.

What’s been described so far “paints a heinous and inhumane image,” Crump, who represented the family of George Floyd, said in a statement.

“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,” Crump said.

Otieno, whose family is from Kenya, was a deeply loved and well-regarded young man, an aspiring musician who had been a well-known high school athlete in the area, Krudys has said.

He first came into the custody of law enforcement March 3, according to a timeline provided by Henrico County Police, a separate agency.

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