Seven police officers and three hospital workers have been charged with murder after a black inmate died on March 6 at a psychiatric hospital in the US state of Virginia, the prosecutor in charge of the case announced Thursday.
Irvo Otieno, 28, died ten days ago upon admission to Central State Hospital in Petersburg, three hours south of Washington, after being transferred from a local jail due to his mental condition.
According to initial autopsy results, he died of asphyxiation while “physically restrained,” Dinwiddie County District Attorney Ann Cabell Baskervill said in a statement.
A “heartbreaking” video
The prosecutor has a video of the tragedy, which she does not want to make public at the moment, but which was shown this Thursday to the young man’s family.
“Although my son was in the midst of a mental illness crisis, what I saw was heartbreaking,” his mother, Caroline Ouko, said during a news conference.
According to her, the video shows “seven agents on one man” and “lasts” without anyone intervening. “My baby was suffocated”, “they treated him like a dog, worse than a dog”, she added with emotion.
According to the family’s lawyer, Ben Crump, the young man was handcuffed and shackled around his ankles, and the seven police officers remained on top of him for twelve minutes.
Ranging from 30 to 57, the seven Henrico County Sheriff’s employees were arrested and charged with murder Tuesday.
Three hospital workers, ages 23 to 34, were arrested and charged with the same charge Thursday.
Source: BFM TV
