Seven sheriff’s Deputies in central Virginia have been arrested and charged with second degree murder of a black man who was fatally "Smothered” While In Custody.
28 year old Irvo Otieno was from Henrico County, Va. His family emigrated from Kenya when he was 4 years old.
The 28 year old had a history of mental illness and he died after the officers smothered him as he lay on the ground in handcuffs and leg shackles at a hospital. He died from asphyxiation, or oxygen deficiency, on March 6 at Central State Hospital in Dinwiddie County.
His family says Mr. Otieno was deprived of medication while in jail that he needed for his mental illness.
On March 3, Mr. Otieno appeared to be experiencing mental health distress and walked to a neighbor’s lawn, where he picked up some solar-powered lights laid out on the property.
A neighbor called the Henrico Police Department, whose officers placed Mr. Otieno under an emergency custody order before taking him to a hospital "for further evaluation."
On March 6, Mr. Otieno was taken from the jail to the state hospital, where, the prosecutor said, the deputies smothered him.
The case is the latest example of an encounter between law enforcement and a person with a mental illness that ended in violence or death.
The seven: Tabitha Renee Levere, Randy Joseph Boyer, Kaiyell Dajour Sanders, Dwayne Alan Bramble, Bradley Thomas Disse, Brandon Edwards Rodgers and Jermaine Lavar Branch are slotted to appear before a grand jury on March 21.
