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Otieno’s Autopsy: Asphyxia was cause of death

The Virginia medical examiner’s office has ruled Irvo Otieno’s death a homicide and that the official cause is “positional and mechanical asphyxia with restraints,” according to his family’s attorneys. Otieno, a 28-year-old Black man, died on March 6 after he was pinned down by deputies and others while he was being admitted to Central State Hospital in Dinwiddie. Ten people — seven Henrico County sheriff’s deputies and three Central State Hospital personnel — have been charged with second-degree murder in his death. The Associated Press has the story:

Otieno’s Autopsy: Asphyxia was cause of death

Newslooks- RICHMOND, Va. (AP)

Irvo Otieno, a 28-year-old Black man whose death last month at a Virginia mental hospital has sparked outrage and led to second-degree murder charges against 10 defendants, died of “positional and mechanical asphyxia with restraints,” a medical examiner’s office said Monday.

Arkuie Williams, the administrative deputy in the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, confirmed the cause of death findings to The Associated Press after attorneys for Otieno’s family first shared them in a statement. The manner of death was homicide, Williams wrote in an email.

Caroline Ouko, mother of Irvo Otieno, holds a portrait of her son at the Dinwiddie Courthouse in Dinwiddie, Va., on Thursday, March 16, 2023. She said Otieno, who died in a state mental hospital March 6, was “brilliant and creative and bright.” (Daniel Sangjib Min/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP)

Otieno, who struggled with mental illness, died March 6 after he was pinned to the floor while being admitted to Central State Hospital in Dinwiddie County.

Video released earlier this month showed sheriff’s deputies and hospital employees restraining a handcuffed and shackled Otieno for about 20 minutes after he was forcibly led into a hospital room. For much of that time, Otieno was prone on the floor, pinned by a group so large it blocked the camera’s view of him at times.

Personnel who realized he appeared limp and lifeless eventually began resuscitation efforts, the video showed. Otieno’s family and their attorneys have said he posed no danger and was simply trying to breathe.

Mourners gather outside First Baptist Church of South Richmond after the celebration of life for Irvo Otieno in North Chesterfield, Va., on Wednesday, March 29, 2023. Irvo Otieno, a 28-year-old Black man, died after he was pinned to the floor by seven sheriff’s deputies and several others while he was being admitted to a mental hospital. (Eva Russo/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP)

“The official cause and manner of death is not surprising to us as it corroborates what the world witnessed in the video,” family attorneys Ben Crump and Mark Krudys said in a statement. “In a chilling parallel to George Floyd’s killing, Irvo was held down and excessively restrained to death, when he should have been provided medical help and compassion. It is tragic that yet another life has been lost to this malicious and deadly restraint technique.”

Seven deputies and three hospital workers have been charged with second-degree murder in Otieno’s death.

The local prosecutor who brought the charges has previously said in court that Otieno was smothered to death.

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, Va., on Thursday, March 16, 2023. She said Otieno, who died in a state mental hospital March 6, was “brilliant and creative and bright.” (Daniel Sangjib Min/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP)

No additional information from the autopsy beyond the cause and manner of death can be released by the medical examiner’s office, Williams said.

Otieno was laid to rest last week. Civil rights leader the Rev. Al Sharpton and other speakers at his funeral said his death shows the need for mental health and policing reforms.

A group of sheriff’s deputies and other personnel at a Virginia mental hospital forcibly pinned patient Irvo Otieno to the ground until he was motionless and limp, then began unsuccessful resuscitation efforts, according to newly obtained surveillance video by Dinwiddie Commonwealth, Virginia.

Otieno’s family and their attorneys have said Otieno was experiencing mental distress at the time of his initial encounter with law enforcement earlier this month, days before he was taken to the state hospital. He was first taken into police custody March 3, when he was transported to a local hospital for mental health treatment under an emergency custody order.

Police have said that while at the local hospital, he “became physically assaultive toward officers,” at which point they arrested him and took him to a local jail, something Otieno’s family says should never have happened given that he was in need of treatment. On the afternoon of March 6, he was transferred to the state hospital, which has a unit that provides care for people admitted from jails or by court order.

A group of sheriff’s deputies and other personnel at a Virginia mental hospital forcibly pinned patient Irvo Otieno to the ground until he was motionless and limp, then began unsuccessful resuscitation efforts, according to newly obtained surveillance video by Dinwiddie Commonwealth, Virginia.

Some of the attorneys for the defendants charged in his death have said their clients were trying to restrain Otieno.

All defendants have been granted bond and court records show pre-trial hearings in April or May.

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