Virginia deputies, hospital employees charged in death of Irvo Otieno – 2UrbanGirls

By: Arianna Coghill | Mother Jones

Surveillance footage from the Virginia psychiatric hospital where 28-year-old Irvo Otieno died on March 6 shows a group of sheriff deputies and medical staff piling on top of a handcuffed Otieno in the final moments before his death. According to Otieno’s family, Otieno had been experiencing a mental health crisis.

Seven deputies and three hospital employees have been charged with second-degree murder.

The Washington Post, which on Monday obtained a shortened version of the 23-minute video from Central State Hospital, reported that deputies dragged a barefoot and shirtless Otieno into a room before restraining him to the ground for 11 minutes. Moments later in the video, staff is seen applying chest compressions and a defibrillator machine to Otieno’s upper body before a medical technician drapes him with a white sheet. 

Read the full article here.

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