A hospital videotape shows Irvo Otieno pinned to the floor

Witness testimony to the death of a mentally-ill child at a hospital, according to a video surveillance video released by the Henrico County Sheriff’s Office

Henrico County sheriff’s deputies arrived at the hospital at 3:58 p.m. to admit Otieno as a patient, according to the prosecutor. He was restrained, “almost lifeless” upon entering the room, and looked like he was in a hospital emergency room, according to his lawyers.

One of the calls released by the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office described Otieno as aggressive and asked for an ambulance when he was not breathing.

At around 4 p.m. on March 6, Otieno was taken to be admitted to Central State Hospital, a state-run mental health facility south of Richmond, by the Henrico County Sheriff’s Office, according to the commonwealth attorney’s office. It’s not clear why deputies transferred Otieno.

Seven sheriff’s deputies and three hospital employees were indicted by a grand jury Tuesday 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.”

After 12 minutes of Otieno being pinned to the ground, one deputy can be seen shaking Otieno’s hair and attempting to take a neck pulse, but Otieno is unresponsive. Otieno has his limbs shacklesd before he can speak, with three more minutes passed before he can speak.

“My son was treated like a dog, worse than a dog,” Otieno’s mother, Caroline Ouko, said at a news conference. “I saw it with my own eyes on the video.”

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the family, compared the video to that of the murder of George Floyd, who was handcuffed, forced to the ground and held down by Minneapolis police officers in May 2020. Protests over the use of force by police against people of color were triggered by that case.

The surveillance video is a “commentary on how inhumane law enforcement officials treat people who are having a mental health crisis as criminals rather than treating them as people who are in need of help,” Crump said.

Defense attorneys tried to block the public release of the video through court filings submitted on Monday, arguing that it could influence the view of potential jurors and in doing so prevent the defendants from getting a fair trial, The Washington Post reports. The attorneys for the two of the Deputies said their clients are not guilty.

“I know we were going to file a motion to stop that from being released,” said Kershner, who is an attorney for the deputy. “Unfortunately, it’s too late. It’s been released. I think that it was done by the Commonwealth. She can do that, it’s her prerogative. She does not have to do that. She did that last night.

Otieno, a young hip-hop artist who struggled with mental illness, was placed under an emergency custody order when he became physically assaulted

An employee of the hospital said they called at least 15 minutes ago, and were still looking for medical help for an emergency.

He graduated in 2012 from Douglas S. Freeman High School, where – according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch – he played football and basketball, and he attended college in California. His family said that Otieno wanted to become a hip-hop artist and had a passion for music.

He struggled with mental illness too, his family said. Ouko said that her son had long stretches where he would not know anything was wrong, but then there were times when he needed to see a doctor.

According to Virginia law, a person can be placed under an emergency custody order when there is reason to believe they could hurt themselves or others as a result of mental illness.

His family and lawyers have questioned why the police decided to put Otieno in the jail after they claimed he became physically assaultive, though his family said he was relaxed, even asleep at one point.

The Henrico County Sheriff’s Office had seven of its sheriff’s office employees put on administrative leave because they turned themselves in to state police.

CNN has sought comment from the deputies. Last week, Kershner told CNN they had yet to see video but claimed there was nothing unusual about the way he died.

Otieno then spent three days in jail, where his attorneys say he was pepper sprayed (and unable to rinse his eyes because he was handcuffed) and deprived of his medications, which his mother had repeatedly but unsuccessfully tried to get him at the hospital.

The Prisoner’s Dilemma of Irvo Otieno: Witness’s Eye and the Vindication of Disse

Peter B. Baruch, an attorney for deputy Bradley Thomas Disse, said he “is looking forward to his opportunity to try this case and for the full truth to be shared in court and being vindicated.”

Three Central State Hospital workers who were arrested last week have been placed on leave “pending the results of the legal proceedings,” the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services and Central State Hospital said in a statement.

The union that represents law enforcement in Henrico stood behind the deputy, according to a statement on Facebook.

The Washington Post reports on a video that shows a group of people pile on top of a 28-year-old man in a Virginia mental health facility.

The 10 people who were charged last week with murder for the death of Irvo Otieno were indicted by a grand jury on Tuesday.

A 9-minute clip of the video was published by The Post on Tuesday. The prosecutor in the case provided links to the public court filing that the newspaper says enabled it to get the recording.

Commonwealth’s attorney Ann Cabell Baskervill said in two separate announcements last week that 10 people had been arrested after she filed a criminal information charge.

She said at the time that she had done so to protect people in jail who would otherwise have come into contact with those law enforcement officers, and that the case would go before a grand jury the following week “for a final determination of charges going forward.”

The governor of Virginia said that he would be watching the video and called for patience from the public as well as reforms in the mental health system.

“There is a judicial process going on and we have to fully respect that, and I ask everybody to please fully respect it,” Youngkin said. The heart-wrenching nature of challenges in the behavioral health system can be seen by us.

Henrico County Sheriff’s Office: Shannon Taylor and KdV Krudys from the First Minutes of a Hero’s Death

Shannon Taylor, Commonwealth’s Attorney for Henrico County, said in a statement on Tuesday that the office would focus on what happened at the jail and hospital.

“I am committed to ensuring this investigation of these most tragic circumstances where a young man has died will be thorough and complete. His family and all of Henrico deserves no less,” she added.

Krudys said they waited a lot of time before starting rescue efforts and then called Virginia State Police who arrived on the scene more than three hours later.