New surveillance video released Wednesday shows a group of sheriffs storming Irvo Otieno’s cell in Henrico County, Va. carman.
The video was taken on the afternoon of March 6, hours before the Henrico County Sheriff took Otieno, 28, to Central State Hospital, a psychiatric hospital in Dinwiddie County about 50 miles away. In an admissions room there, the footage was released earlier shows a group of seven deputy sheriffs On top of Mr. Otieno and pinned him to the floor for more than 11 minutes. According to the local prosecutor, he suffocated in the process.
Both videos were released by Dinwiddie County Prosecutor Ann Cabell Baskervill, who charged 10 people — seven deputy and three hospital staff — with second-degree murder in Mr. Otieno’s death. A grand jury confirmed the charges with the indictment on Tuesday.
Mr. Otieno was arrested by Henrico County police on March 3, who were responding to a report of a break-in from a neighbor. Mr. Otieno walked to a neighbor’s lawn and picked up some lighting fixtures in the house and banged on the door before his mother came to pick him up.
Mr. Otieno had a long battle with mental illness. His mother, Caroline Ouko, told police at the time that he was having mental problems. He was eventually taken to a nearby hospital by ambulance.
“When they took him to the hospital, I knew he was going home,” Ms. Ouko said in an interview Monday.
But then on March 3, police took Mr. Otieno from the hospital to the Henrico County Jail, where he was being held on charges of assaulting a law enforcement officer, disorderly conduct, and vandalism. ruin. He spent weekends there, as his mother tried to figure out where he was and buy him medicine. On Monday morning, March 6, a judge ordered Mr. Otieno’s detention without bond.
In the new video, which begins inside the prison just before 2:30 p.m. that Monday, a group of officers can be seen standing outside the cell, as Mr. Otieno bangs his hand on the window. After Mr. Otieno pushed out a set of prisoner clothes that officers tried to pass through the slot in the food tray, a struggle broke out. At least five officers showed up to wrestle Mr. Otieno across the slot.
After that struggle ended, Mr. Otieno appeared in dire straits through the window, covering his face with his hands. An officer opened the door and six men rushed in, pushing Mr. Otieno to the ground. Although Mr. Otieno was nearly blinded at this point, one officer could be seen throwing several punches down.
Officers, sometimes joined by others, appeared to surround Mr. Otieno on the floor. After 14 minutes, six officers stepped out into the hallway carrying Mr. Otieno’s seemingly limp body.
Another video from March 6 released on Wednesday shows officers carrying Mr. Otieno, who has half-leg pants, into a garage. They initially put him down in the back of a white van and then carried his body to the side of the truck before taking him to the open back door. Eight officers lifted him up and brought him inside. Doors close and the car leaves the parking lot at 3:09pm
Mr Otieno was pronounced dead less than three hours later.
