The family of Irvo Otieno, a 28-year-old Virginia man who died while in custody at a state mental hospital, is outraged after seeing surveillance video of his death.
Otieno was placed under an emergency custody order due to a mental health crisis and transported to the hospital where he was handcuffed, shackled, and smothered to death.
Seven Henrico County sheriff’s deputies and three hospital employees have been charged with second-degree murder.
The family claims that Otieno suffered a brutal 11-minute beating and was left naked in a cell before being taken to the hospital.
Prosecutors say he died of asphyxia due to being smothered to death by at least seven people holding him down.
Otieno’s family is calling for justice and for the Department of Justice to intervene in the case.
