Irvo Otieno.Photo: FaceBook
Newly obtained surveillance video from a psychiatric hospital in Virginia shows the tragic events that led to the in-custody death of a28-year-old manand the subsequent murder charges against several deputies and medical workers.
“Can you imagine the agony … while all those seconds added up to minutes, added up to the breath being smothered out of his body?” attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the family, said at a press conference last Thursday, per theWall Street Journal.
Seven deputies and three hospital employees have now been charged with second-degree murder in connection with Otieno’s death.
The Office of Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) in Richmond identified asphyxiation as a cause of death in their preliminary report, PEOPLE previously reported.
Otieno’s family spoke out during the press conference after they had viewed the video, according to CBS News.
“My son was tortured,” Caroline Ouko, said, per CBS News.
Otieno was transported from jail in Henrico to Central State Hospital, a state-run psychiatric facility in Dinwiddie County, per the outlet.
Otieno’s family told CBS News he struggled with mental health issues, but he had a “big heart” and was a great “listener.”
“Let me be clear — mental illness is not a crime. Being a Black man in America is not a crime,” NAACP President Derrick Johnson told theWall Street Journal.
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The deputies involved in the transfer, reports WRIC, werearrested after voluntarily turning themselves inon March 14.
They include Randy Joseph Boyer, 57; Dwayne Alan Bramble, 37; Jermaine Lavar Branch, 45; Bradley Thomas Disse, 43; Tabitha Renee Levere, 50; Brandon Edwards Rodgers, 48, and Kaiyell Dajour Sanders, 30.
In a statement to PEOPLE, Edward K. Nickel said his client, Disse, is a 20-year veteran with the Henrico County Sheriff’s Office who “has served honorably.”
“He is looking forward to his opportunity to try this case and for the full truth to be shared in court and ultimately vindicated,” Nickel said.
The three hospital workers were arrested shortly after. Their names are Darian M. Blackwell, 23, Wavie L. Jones, 34, and Sadarius D. Williams, 27. According to court records, they have not obtained legal representation.
This week, all 10 ten defendants were formally indicted before a grand jury on the charges,The New York Timesreports.
Ouko said her family moved from Kenya to the U.S. when Otieno was 4 years old. He attended college in California and was an aspiring hip-hop artist, according to CBS News.
source: people.com
