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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.
BLACK MENTAL PATIENT PINNED DOWN, SMOTHERED TO DEATH BY DEPUTIES AT VIRGINIA HOSPITAL, PROSECUTOR SAYS
“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.
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, Virginia, on March 16, 2023. (Daniel Sangjib Min/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP)
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.
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“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…
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