Family of man killed in confrontation with deputies view video of incident

A man from Virginia Who are accused of murdering seven deputies. His family said Thursday after viewing footage of the incident that he was suffering from a mental health crisis, was handcuffed, shackled and posed no threat to law enforcement officials.

“My son was treated like a dog, worse than a dog,” Caroline Oko said Thursday. “He was murdered. They took my baby’s breath away. They killed my baby.”

Seven Henrico County deputies have been charged with second-degree murder in the March 6 death of 28-year-old Arvo Otieno. Three employees of the hospital have also been charged in his death.

The Danwiddie County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office said in court Wednesday that Otieno “died from asphyxiation, caused by at least seven people being placed on top of him and holding him down.”

On Thursday, Otieno’s family and lawyers were shown a video of the events that took place while he was registered at a government hospital following his previous arrest.

Attorney Ben Crump told reporters that “what we just saw … was a commentary on how law enforcement officials treat people with dehumanizing mental health crises like criminals, rather than criminals.” to treat those who need help.”

Otieno’s family attorney, Mark Crudes, said after viewing the footage that the seven deputies could be seen pushing down “every part of their body” with “absolute brutality.”

“I wasn’t really ready to see that,” Crodis said.

“You can see them putting their backs into it. Every part of his body is being pushed down so brutally. You can’t even picture it too many times.”

According to court documents, the four deputies weighed at least 250 pounds, with the heaviest weighing 320 pounds.

“It’s truly shocking that nearly three years after the brutal police killing of George Floyd, another family is grieving a loved one who allegedly died in exactly the same way,” Crump said. ” He said that this incident continued for 11 minutes in the hospital.

Otieno was handcuffed and in leg irons as he was placed on the ground by deputies, prosecutors have said.

Otieno’s lawyers said they hope the Justice Department will investigate Otieno’s death.

Randy Joseph Boyer, 57; Dwayne Allen Bramble, 37; Jermaine LaVar Branch, 45; Bradley Thomas Dassey, 43; Tabitha Renee Lever, 50; Brandon Edwards Rogers, 48; Kyle Dajour Sanders, 30, was charged, the prosecutor’s office said.

Des’ attorney, Edward K. Nickell, said Thursday that his client looks forward to defending himself against the charges. “The charges were initiated by criminal information, an unusual way to initiate paperwork for an arrest in Virginia,” he said. “However, the final charges, if any, that our client will face will be determined at the grand jury next Tuesday.”

Carrie Bowen, who represented the branch, said her client had been with the department for 24 years.

“None of them are known as bullies,” he has said.

The other deputies could not be reached for comment Thursday afternoon and it was unclear if they had attorneys who could speak for them.

Before his death, Otieno was arrested and charged with assaulting Henrico police officers at Parham Doctors Hospital when they responded to a possible burglary call on March 3, Henrico police said in a statement. Statement

Henrico police officers placed Otieno under an “emergency detention order,” the department said. According to , such orders are used in cases of mental illness. Virginia Law.

At the hospital, Henrico police said, Otieno “became physically aggressive with the officers, who arrested him” and took him to a local jail, operated by the Henrico County Sheriff’s Office, where he was charged with several counts of aggravated assault. Charges were laid.

The Henrico County Sheriff’s Office went to Central State Hospital at 3:58 p.m. on March 6 to check Otieno as an inpatient, the prosecutor’s office said.

Around 7:30 p.m., state police were called to investigate his death. State police investigators were told he became combative during the break-in, prosecutors have said.

Henrico County Sheriff Alyssa Gregory said the deputies have been placed on administrative leave.

Otieno was described by his family as a selfless person who was always concerned with justice. He was also a hip-hop artist who wrote songs in five minutes, his relatives said.

The family has its roots in Kenya.

Leon Ochieng described his younger brother’s death as a “tragic, senseless, dehumanizing nightmare”.

“Can somebody tell me why my brother is not here now? Somebody tell me why my mother can’t sleep, can’t eat,” said Ocheng. “We are broken. Our hearts are broken.”