The death of a Black man at a Virginia hospital that led to murder charges against 10 deputies and hospital workers was caused by “asphyxia with restraints” and was a homicide, authorities said Monday.
The cause of Irvo Otieno’s March 6 death was “positional and mechanical asphyxia with restraints,” according to a Monday statement from the Virginia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner provided to NBC News. The death of Otieno, 28, was ruled a homicide, the medical examiner’s office said.
Video capturing some of the final moments of Otieno’s life at Virginia’s Central State Hospital shows officers and medical staff appearing to pile on top of Otieno before he eventually stops moving.
Otieno’s family and his attorneys have said he was in the midst of a mental health crisis.
His death led to second-degree murder charges against seven Virginia Sheriff’s deputies and three hospital workers.
Prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump and co-counsel Mark Krudys, who represent the Otieno family, said in a statement Monday that the cause and manner of death “is not surprising to us as it corroborates what the world witnessed in the video.”
“In a chilling parallel to George Floyd’s killing, Irvo was held down and excessively restrained to death, when he should have been provided medical help and compassion,” the statement said. “It is tragic that yet another life has been lost to this malicious and deadly restraint technique.”
Surveillance video shows officers dragging Otieno — who appears to be handcuffed and shackled at the ankles — into an admissions room, initially moving him toward a table before laying him on the ground and restraining him.
As many as 10 sheriff’s deputies and medical staff members at the hospital are seen crowding around Otieno on the floor as several others stand nearby. The scene is so crowded that Otieno can hardly be seen at that point, and it is unclear what exactly is happening or how deputies and medical workers…
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