A 16-year-old teen abused and neglected by police: The case of Martin Otieno at Central State Hospital on March 6, 2020
Henrico County sheriff’s deputies arrived at the hospital at 3:58 p.m. to admit Otieno as a patient, according to the prosecutor. Attorneys for him say he was restrained with handcuffs and leg irons and appeared lifeless when he entered the room.
Dinwiddie County Commonwealth’s Attorney Ann Cabell Baskervill’s office also released 911 calls about the incident in which a caller described Otieno as “very aggressive” and repeatedly asked for an ambulance, saying he was not breathing.
At around 4 p.m. on March 6, Otieno was taken to be admitted to Central State Hospital, a state-run mental health facility south of Richmond, by the Henrico County Sheriff’s Office, according to the commonwealth attorney’s office. It’s not clear why deputies transferred Otieno.
The following deputies were each charged with one felony count of first-degree murder: 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.
Rescue efforts began within minutes and ended less than an hour, as reported by The Post.
“My son was treated like a dog — worse than a dog — I saw it with my own eyes on the video,” Caroline Ouko said. “He was treated inhumanely, and it was traumatic and it was systematic.”
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the family, compared the video to that of the murder of George Floyd, who was handcuffed, forced to the ground and held down by Minneapolis police officers in May 2020. Protests over police use of force against people of color followed that case.
Crump said at a news conference last week that the video contradicts deputies’ accounts and provides “visual evidence of how they treated this young man who was posing no threat to them.”
Attorneys for the defendants submitted court papers on Monday to try to keep the video out of the public eye, arguing that it could affect potential jurors, and prevent the defendants from having a fair trial, The Washington Post reports. Two of the two deputy attorneys said their clients were innocent, it says.
“I know we were going to file a motion to not have that released,” said attorney Caleb Kershner, who represents deputy Randy Joseph Boyer. It is too late. It has been released. So I think that was done somewhat strategically by the Commonwealth. That is her prerogative, she can do that. She doesn’t need to do that. She decided to do that last night.
The Case of Otieno: A Case Study in Henrico County Sheriff’s Office where the Medical Examiner reveals a Mental Health Problem and an Emergency Custodial Order
“The patient is a new admission, so we’re still in the admission unit, and then he’s very aggressive,” the employee says. They are doing cardiopulmonary rescue right now.
He graduated from the school in 2012 and was able to attend college in California. Otieno also had a passion for music and was working to become a hip-hop artist, his family said.
His family said he struggled with mental illness as well. Ouko said her son had long stretches where “(you) wouldn’t even know something was wrong,” and then there were times when “he would go into some kind of distress and then you know he needs to see a doctor.”
According to Virginia law, an emergency custody order can be issued when a person believes that they could hurt themselves or others due to mental illness.
Krudys said Otieno was experiencing a mental health crisis on March 3, and his mother was at the scene and implored police not to be aggressive with him.
Seven Henrico County deputies, who turned themselves in to state police last week, are on administrative leave as investigations by their agency and state police continue, Henrico County Sheriff Alisa Gregory said in a statement.
CNN has sought comment from the deputies. Kershner, Boyer’s attorney, told CNN last week they had yet to see video but claimed “nothing was outside of the ordinary” in the lead up to his death.
They delivered him as fast as possible in order to give him the care he needed. He said that their client had dealt with Otieno for a long time and that he had a lot of violent noncompliance.
A State Attorney’s Perspective on a Black Man Indicted for Murdering Irvo Otieno in a Virginia Psychiatric Facility
The attorney said he was looking forward to his chance to try the case and for Disse’s full truth to be shared in court.
Three Central State Hospital workers have been put on leave pending the results of the legal proceedings, they said in a statement.
The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 4 supports the sheriffs, it stated on Facebook.
The Washington Post reports that a video shows sheriff’s officers and other people piling on top of a Black man who was locked up in a Virginia psychiatric facility.
A grand jury indicted the 10 people who were charged last week for the death of Irvo Otieno.
The Post published a 9-minute clip of the video on Tuesday morning, ahead of its planned release. The newspaper obtained the recording by clicking on links from a public court filing.
Dinwiddie County Commonwealth’s Attorney Ann Cabell Baskervill said in two separate announcements last week that the 10 individuals had been arrested after she filed a criminal information charge, a relatively rare step that launches criminal proceedings without needing a grand jury vote.
She said at the time that she had done so to protect people in jail who would otherwise have come into contact with those law enforcement officers, and that the case would go before a grand jury the following week “for a final determination of charges going forward.”
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin said on Monday that he planned to watch the video, and called for patience from the public as well as reforms in the mental health system.
Youngkin said that there is a judicial process going on, and he asked everyone to respect it. “We also can just see the heart-wrenching nature of the challenges in our behavioral health system.”
Shannon Taylor, the Commonwealth Attorney for Henrico County – “Taylor and I am sorry for what happened at the jail and hospital”
Shannon Taylor, the Commonwealth’s Attorney for Henrico County, said in a statement on Tuesday that her office will focus on what happened at the jail and hospital.
“I am committed to ensuring this investigation of these most tragic circumstances where a young man has died will be thorough and complete. His family and all of Henrico deserves no less,” she added.
Krudys said they waited a lot of time before calling Virginia State Police because they had no one in the full room who would intervene.