Lawyers representing I’s familyrvo otienoa 28-year-old African American who died in March while in the custody of Henrico Sheriff’s deputies, in the state of Virginia, have asked the Department of Justice (DOJ) to open a criminal investigation into his death, that was captured in a video where you can see the extreme violence and the police abuse which was used against Otieno.
The cause of death for Irvo Otieno on March 6 was “positional and mechanical asphyxia with restraints,” the Virginia office of the chief medical examiner said in a statement. Otieno’s death was ruled a homicidethe medical examiner’s office said.
The lawyers of Otieno’s brother and mother, prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump and Mark Krudys, they pointed to the Justice Department’s strong resources compared to those of Dinwiddie County and wrote that federal resources “are necessary to prosecute defendants skillfully and appropriately,” referring to people who have already been charged with murder in connection with the case.
“I am writing to request that the US Department of Justice open a criminal investigation into the circumstances surrounding Mr. Otieno’s death,” they wrote in the June 26 letter to the rights division’s assistant attorney general. DOJ civilians, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and the Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Richmond Field Office.
On March 6, 2023, Irvo Otieno, a 28-year-old African-American man with severe mental illness, was crushed to death by several Henrico County Sheriff’s deputies and employees of Central State Hospital. Employees huddled over Otieno’s body for 12 minutes as he lay mostly face down on the floor of the state hospital’s admission ward, held in handcuffs and shackles, attorneys for Otieno’s family noted, summarizing the case in a Press release.
Surveillance video from a Virginia psychiatric facility shows seven sheriff’s deputies and three psychiatric hospital employees piling on top of an African-American man who was handcuffed for about 11 minutes before the man stopped moving.
The video, with violent images that may upset people, can be viewed here.
On the basis of your request that the Department of Justice initiate a criminal investigation, they also mentioned the lack of experience of the new interim lawyer of the Commonwealth of Dinwiddie in prosecuting cases and the limited number of prosecutors and resources in the office.
“In our opinion, the newly appointed CA and its equally new small staff, with a large caseload in addition to the indictment of Mr. Otieno’s murderers, are inadequately prepared to prosecute the eight defendants, all of whom have a independent and experienced attorney,” attorneys Krump and Krudys wrote in the letter.
Otieno’s family has said his death resembles the 2020 killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers.which sparked protests across the country, when a video was released showing how his arrest caused his death.
It also follows the death of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old black man who died after he was pulled over and beaten by police during a traffic stop in Memphis earlier this year. That incident was also caught on video cameras.
Keep reading:
– VIDEO: They capture the moment when officers and medical personnel immobilize Irvo Otieno, an African-American who died of suffocation in a Virginia hospital
– Video shows 10 sheriffs and medical personnel putting pressure on a patient before he died in Virginia
– The US government imposes limits on the use of force by federal police agencies
Source: La Opinion
