Civil rights leader Al Sharpton to deliver eulogy for Irvo Otieno who died at mental health hospital
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DINWIDDIE—Nationally renowned civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton will deliver a speech at Irvo Otieno's memorial in a mental health tragedy that has reached national stage.
On March 6, Otieno died of apparent suffocation while in custody at Dinwiddie's mental health hospital. Video footage shows seven Henrico sheriff's deputies and three Central State employees holding him down at different points while he was shackled on his hands and feet for approximately 12 minutes. One sheriff had his knee on Otieno's neck.
Otieno is so completely covered by deputies and staff that only glimpses of him can be seen in the first 20 minutes of the video: the top of his head for a moment, a twitching foot.
The death of Otieno, 28, comes amidst national reckoning after George Floyd's death, who also died of suffocation when police pinned him down for 17 minutes. One officer had his knee on his neck, not allowing him to breathe after multiple objections.
"Did you not understand putting a knee on somebody's neck who's handcuffed after George Floyd is not a good thing, that it could lead to someone's death?" said attorney Ben Crump who represented Breonna Taylor and Floyd. He is also representing Otieno's family. "You all had to know you were killing him."
The suspects indicted are deputies Jermaine Lavar Branch, 45; Bradley Thomas Disse, 43; Randy Joseph Boyer, 57; Dwayne Alan Bramble, 37; Tabitha Rene Levere, 50; Brandon Edward Rodgers, 48; and Kalyell Dajour Sanders, 30; and hospital employees Darian M. Blackwell, 23, of Petersburg, Wavie L. Jones, 34, of Chesterfield, and Sadarius D. Williams, 27, of North Dinwiddie.
Dinwiddie County prosecutor Ann Cabell Baskervill has charged the seven sheriff’s deputies as well as three employees of the hospital with second-degree murder.
More:Why was Irvo Otieno treated with such brutality? Family still searching for answers.
Otieno was born in Kenya and moved to the U.S. when he was four years old. He was an aspiring hip hop artist who could write a song in minutes. He was working on producing a record label under the name "Youngvo." His mom referred to him as the “peacemaker in the family," a humble man whom others looked to for help, a leader that cared that people were treated right.
He spent a majority of his life in Virginia and attended college in California, where problems with his mental health first started to surface, according to the Richmond Times Dispatch. Though he battled with mental illness, his mom said that even in mental distress, he did not have a record of violence.
"Mental illness should not be your ticket to death. That was a chance to rescue him. There was a chance to stop what was going on. And I don't understand how all systems failed him," his mother Caroline Ouko said.
The date and time of his funeral has not yet been released.
More:Mother of Irvo Otieno 'happy' with indictments of deputies, hospital staff charged in his death
More:Dinwiddie judge denies defense motion for gag order in Irvo Otieno murder case
More:GoFundMe account for Central State patient's family sets $100K for funeral, other expenses
Joyce Chu, an award-winning investigative journalist, is the Social Justice Watchdog Reporter for The Progress Index. Contact her with comments, concerns, or story-tips at Jchu1@gannett.com or on Twitter @joyce_speaks.
This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Civil rights leader Al Sharpton will deliver eulogy for Irvo Otieno
