Irvo Otieno: Family Of Kenyan Man Killed By 7 US Cops Paid Ksh1.3 Billion
Otieno, who had been experiencing mental health distress on March 3, was taken to jail after the authorities said he assaulted police officers.
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The family of 28-year-old Kenyan man, Irvo Otieno, who was captured on CCTV being pinned to the floor by multiple US security officers at a Virginia state mental health facility in the moments leading to his death on Monday, March 6 has reached a settlement for Ksh.1.25 billion ($8.5 million) with the state, county and sheriff’s office.
Otieno, who had been experiencing mental health distress on March 3, was taken to jail after the authorities said he assaulted police officers.
Three days later, he was taken to Central State Hospital in Dinwiddie County, where the footage that went viral both in the US and in Kenya showed a group of Henrico County sheriff’s office deputies entering a room, dragging him and forcing him to the floor, where they held him down until his death.
The death led to murder charges and an outpouring of criticism against the deputies and medical staff members, and renewed concerns about how law enforcement agencies respond to people in acute distress.
The lawyers for the family, Mark Krudys and Ben Crump, who also represent the families of Tyre Nichols and George Floyd, revealed in a joint statement that “the family is pleased that they were able to find a resolution outside of court in a manner that honours Irvo’s life.”
Caroline Ouko, mother of Irvo Otieno, holds a portrait of her son at a news conference in March 2023. /ASSOCIATED PRESS
A person familiar with the settlement, who was not authorized to publicly discuss its details, confirmed the amount to the New York Times.
Macaulay Porter, a spokeswoman for Gov. Glenn Youngkin of Virginia, noted in a statement that Otieno’s death was a profound tragedy and that the governor had “pushed for a settlement with the hope that doing so proactively and fairly might alleviate, in a small way, some of the suffering that Irvo’s mother and brother faced, recognizing that no settlement can take the place of a loved one.”
The video which was shared by multiple US news agencies in March showed Otieno, bound by his hands and feet, forcibly taken into a room and dragged into an upright seated position on the floor with his back against a chair.
10 minutes later, after Otieno turned onto his side with three people holding him, his body jerked and five more deputies and workers moved to pin Otieno to the floor. A clear view of Otieno was blocked in much of the video, but one deputy was appearing to be lying across Otieno for most of the incident as he was forced onto his stomach.
Eventually, Otieno was rolled onto his back, where several deputies appeared to be restraining him with their knees. One deputy held Otieno’s head still by grabbing his braided hair.
After 12 minutes of Otieno being pinned to the ground, one deputy was seen shaking Otieno’s hair and attempting to take a neck pulse, but Otieno was unresponsive. Three more minutes passed before Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) began, with Otieno’s limbs still shackled.
Medical workers from the hospital were then seen converging on the room as CPR continued for nearly an hour. After he was pronounced dead, Otieno was covered in a white sheet, still lying on the floor, his body briefly left alone in the room.
Dinwiddie County Commonwealth’s Attorney Ann Cabell Baskervill’s office had 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.
Taken together, the video and emergency calls offered further details of the final moments of Otieno, a 28-year-old man who died on March 6 as he was transferred from a Henrico County jail to Central State Hospital.
Seven sheriff’s deputies and three hospital employees were indicted by a grand jury on March 21 on a charge of second-degree murder, according to court documents. In a hearing last week for the charges against the deputies, Baskervill told the court, “They smothered him to death.”
Baskervill initially declined to release the video but changed course after Otieno’s family approved. Notably, the recording excluded the audio.
Otieno’s family and their attorneys watched the video and said they were disturbed by how Otieno was treated during a mental health crisis.
“My son was treated like a dog, worse than a dog. I saw it with my own eyes on the video,” Otieno’s mother, Caroline Ouko, was quoted by CNN at a news conference.
