Minutes later, the video shows workers starting to apply chest compressions and a defibrillator machine to Otieno’s upper body, before a medical technician drapes a white sheet over him at 5 o’clock. :48 in the afternoon
A Virginia prosecutor charged seven Henrico County Sheriff’s deputies and three hospital staff with second-degree murder in Otieno’s death, and said he expects more arrests and charges.
The prosecutor, Ann Cabell Baskervill, said HE plans to release the video to the public on Tuesday. The Washington Post obtained it ahead of release by clicking on Dropbox links, which Baskervill listed in a public court filing as part of his obligation to turn over relevant information to defense attorneys. Lawyers for the two defendants sought to block the release of the video in court filings filed Monday, arguing that by releasing evidence or giving statements to the media, prosecutors could influence the group. potential jurors, and prevent defendants from receiving a fair trial.
Baskervill plans to seek indictment Tuesday for 10 people accused in Otieno’s death, according to his office. A grand jury is scheduled to meet Tuesday morning to review the case, court records show. The prosecutor said Otieno died asphyxia as law enforcement and hospital staff gathered around him.
Otieno’s family and their civil rights attorneys, Ben Crump and Mark Krudys, viewed the hospital surveillance video last week and urged prosecutors to release it to the public.
“My son was treated like a dog, worse than a dog,” Otieno’s mother, Caroline Ouko, told reporters last week at a news conference with the family’s lawyers. . “I saw it with my own eyes on video. He was treated inhumanely, and it was traumatic, and it was systemic.
Because the video has no sound, it’s unclear what was said, but one of the deputies appeared to laugh at one point, Krudys said.
The video footage Otieno also appeared to arrive at the hospital on March 6, and Dropbox links to Baskervill’s filing included 911 tapes of hospital workers apparently calling for help after the incident and other emergency communications.
Surveillance video taken outside Central State Hospital shows two SUVs pulling up at 3:58 p.m., according to timestamps on the footage. For about 20 minutes, sheriff’s deputies and hospital staff could be seen surrounding the entrance, near the vehicles. At 4:16 p.m., a bound and handcuffed Otieno was removed from the back seat of the first SUV and taken by deputies to the hospital.
Footage captured just inside the hospital showed deputies forcing Otieno forward – he stayed on his feet – while hospital staff followed behind the entrance. Sheriff’s deputies could be seen taking control of the situation as Otieno was led down a hallway and through an open door at 4:17 p.m.
Otieno was next seen in the surveillance video timestamped at 4:19 in the afternoon, as he entered the admissions area of the hospital. The roughly two-minute gap — based on timestamps — was not accounted for in the video reviewed by The Post on Monday.
Four to five sheriff’s deputies were seen Otieno was dragged to the admissions room. Then, two sheriff’s deputies from Henrico County got into position, restraining Otieno as he sat on the ground, with his back propped up on a chair.
But after Otieno, handcuffed and in leg irons, appeared to be moving just before 4:28 p.m., several deputies and hospital staff jeered at him. At least eight people gathered on top of Otieno, some restraining his legs, while others restrained his upper body.
At 4:31 in the afternoon, the group seemed to lose their grip on Otieno for a moment, and they rolled him to the ground. Nine or 10 people restrained Otieno. Hospital staff were in the room watching or helping restrain him.
Deputies and staff eased their grip on Otieno and rolled him onto his side moments before 4:40 p.m. Otieno was shirtless and appeared to be motionless. A minute later, a medical worker lowered the top of Otieno’s pants and administered an injection. He still couldn’t move. Resuscitation efforts, including chest compressions and defibrillator charges, take less than an hour to video.
“You’ll notice that resuscitation efforts are very slow to begin with,” Krudys said Monday. Otieno’s mother wants the public to see the video, Krudys said.
“She felt very strongly that the public should see what happened to her son,” she said.
Attorneys for two of the deputies previously said their clients are innocent. A lawyer for one of the hospital workers accused in the case criticized the prosecutor’s filing of Dropbox links.
“We are concerned that this response was filed by the prosecution with the intention of making the information available to the media and the public after receiving a defense motion seeking to prevent such disclosure,” Douglas Ramseur, representing Wavie Jones, said. said in an email Monday evening. “We are considering all of our legal remedies.”
Baskervill did not respond to requests for comment Monday evening.
Audio recordings of 911 calls and emergency communications — with file names indicating when they occurred — show hospital staff impatient as they wait for an ambulance.
The first call seems to come around 4:40 p.m The dispatcher seemed to have trouble hearing or understanding a woman who called from the hospital to say they had a patient who was not breathing.
“We have an emergency in building 39,” said the woman at the hospital. “We have a new admission [patient] but he was not breathing anymore. … The patient was a new admission and then he was very aggressive. So they are doing CPR now. No more pulse.”
The dispatcher replied: “Excuse me, is the patient aggressive or is he not breathing?”
“He used to be aggressive, right,” said the woman at the hospital.
In a call that appeared to be marked as coming in at 5:02 p.m., a woman who identified herself in the previous call as “Harrison in admissions” was heard calling the Dinwiddie County dispatcher again.
“We called at least 15 minutes ago, we had an emergency 15, 20 minutes ago,” said the hospital worker.
“Yes, ma’am,” answered the female dispatcher. “We have medics on their way.”
“You said they were traveling for the last time,” said the hospital worker. “I mean, how far — where are they from? Are they from the Southside?”
The dispatcher replied that the medics would “come as soon as they can” and explained that they were also handling a car accident, but the hospital worker was upset.
“This is totally unacceptable, and you know it too,” he said. “Absolutely unacceptable.”
“They will come,” the dispatcher assured him.
A stretcher was seen in the admissions room at 5:08 pm
Attorneys for Otieno’s family said he was mistreated at the Henrico County Jail, where authorities first took him March 3 after police responded to a call for service in his neighborhood, and Otieno’s mother searched for him. medical assistance. Police first took him to a hospital for a mental health evaluation, then booked him into jail when he became uncontrollable, authorities said. Otieno was then taken to the Central State Hospital three days later, on March 6.
Krudys said the jail surveillance video, which Otieno’s family has largely refused to see, is in some ways more graphic than the images from the hospital. Attorneys for Otieno’s family said he was kept naked in a cell, and beaten and sprayed by employees of the Henrico County sheriff’s office. Jail video was not available Monday.
Separate from Baskervill’s investigation, Henrico County commonwealth’s attorney Shannon Taylor said last week that her office will conduct “a full and comprehensive investigation” into the events at the jail on March 6, including evidence in the video.
“I understand and share the public’s concerns and will do everything I can to find out what happened and how,” Taylor said in a statement.
Federal law enforcement agencies in Virginia have not been asked to help local authorities investigate Otieno’s death, according to three people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not present. authorized to make public comments about the case.
“FBI Richmond is in contact with authorities investigating the circumstances surrounding the tragic death of Mr. Irvo Otieno,” a spokeswoman for the FBI’s Richmond field office said Friday. “We have no further comments to share at this time.”
Court records show that Henrico County sheriff’s deputies charged so far are Virginia residents Jermaine Branch, 45, Randy Boyer, 57, Bradley Disse, 43, Tabitha Levere, 50, and Brandon Rodgers, 48. all from Henrico; as well as Dwayne Bramble, 37, of Sandston; and Kaiyell Dajour Sanders, 30, of North Chesterfield.
The hospital workers charged are: Darian Blackwell, 23, of Petersburg; Jones, 34, of Chesterfield; and Sadarius Williams, 27, of North Dinwiddie.
Two of the 10 defendants, Branch and Disse, were released on bond as of Monday afternoon, with the others scheduled for bond hearings on Tuesday and Wednesday.
