Video released of man's death at Virginia mental health facility

A Virginia prosecutor released surveillance video Tuesday from a mental hospital showing the events that led to an Irvo Otieno's death. It shows Otieno lying shackled and unresponsive after being pinned to the floor by multiple security officers.

Dinwiddie County Commonwealth’s Attorney Ann Cabell Baskervill charged seven sheriff’s deputies and three hospital employees with second-degree murder, telling CNN last week, “They smothered him to death.”

The newly released video begins as Otieno, bound by his hands and feet, is forcibly brought into a room and dragged into an upright seated position on the floor with his back against a chair. Ten minutes later, after Otieno has turned onto his side with three people holding him, his body jerks, and five more deputies and workers move to pin Otieno to the floor.

A clear view of Otieno is blocked in much of the video, but one deputy appears to be laying his body across Otieno for most of the incident as he is forced onto his stomach.

Eventually, Otieno is rolled onto his back, where several deputies appear to be restraining him with their knees. One deputy holds Otieno’s head still by grabbing his braided hair. The recording does not include audio.

After 12 minutes of being pinned to the ground, one deputy can be seen shaking Otieno’s hair and attempting to take a neck pulse. Otieno is unresponsive. Three more minutes pass before CPR begins, with Otenio’s limbs still shackled.

Medical workers from the hospital are seen converging on the room as CPR continues for nearly an hour. After he is pronounced dead, Otieno is covered in a white sheet, still lying on the floor, his body briefly left alone in the room.

Baskervill initially declined to release the video but changed course after Otieno’s family approved.

Employees at Central State Hospital in Dinwiddie County, Virginia, called 911 multiple times on the day Irvo Otieno, a 28-year-old Black man, died while in custody to report he wasn't breathing and was "aggressive" at one point, according to 911 calls and the Dinwiddie dispatch audio provided to CNN by the Dinwiddie County Commonwealth's Attorney's office.   

Otieno was smothered to death on March 6 at the Virginia psychiatric hospital a prosecutor said.  

Seven Henrico County sheriff’s deputies and three hospital security guards have been charged with second-degree murder in the death of the promising hip-hop artist whose family said was having a mental health crisis when he died. 

In hospital surveillance video released by prosecutors, Otieno is restrained and pinned to the floor by multiple security officers. About 12 minutes after the incident began, Otieno appears unresponsive. Three more minutes pass before CPR begins, with Otenio’s limbs shackled.  

Hospital staff at the mental health facility called for emergency services.  

It’s unclear if they have the necessary equipment or training to handle the situation. 

In what appears to be the first call at 4:40 p.m. local time, an employee can be heard asking for EMS help, saying they're administering CPR but that the patient, Otieno, is "very aggressive."

“The patient is a new admission, so we’re still in the admission unit, and then he’s very aggressive,” the employee says. “They’re doing a CPR right now.”

The dispatcher asks for clarification on Otieno's condition, "I’m sorry, is the patient aggressive or is he not breathing?"

"He used to be aggressive, right, so they’re trying to put him in a restraint then eventually he is no longer breathing,” the employees says.

In another call that appears to happen at 5:02 p.m local time, a stressed hospital employee can be heard saying they called "at least 15 minutes ago," and were still looking for medical help, for an "emergency."  

“You said they were en route the last time, I mean, how far were they coming from," the employee asks the dispatcher.

"Ma’am they’re coming and they’re coming as quickly as they can," the dispatcher responds. 

“This is just totally unacceptable, and y'all know it too. Totally unacceptable.” the employee responds. 

The commonwealth attorney Ann Cabell Baskervill told CNN in an interview with Brian Todd that she believed the hospital didn't make the 911 calls until after Otieno had died.   

The surveillance video from the hospital obtained by CNN does not clearly show what time Otieno first appears unresponsive, but an officer is seen attempting to take a pulse from his neck at 4:39 p.m. local time that appears to be around the time that hospital employees first called 911 based on the file names of the 911 recordings provided to CNN 

CNN has reached out to the hospital for clarification on when the initial 911 calls were placed.   

Irvo Otieno’s family is originally from Kenya, and he came to the US at the age of 4, Mark Krudys, the attorney for Otieno’s family, told CNN.

Otieno, 28, had been on medication for mental illness.

March 3: That morning, the Henrico County Police responded to a report of a possible burglary and encountered Otieno, police said in a news release on March 10. Police officers – with the county’s Crisis Intervention Team – put him under an emergency custody order due to their interactions with and observations of him, police said.

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.

Krudys said Otieno was experiencing a mental health crisis on March 3, and his mother was on scene and implored police not to be aggressive with him.

“I think it’s a relatively small thing,” Krudys said when asked what Otieno may have been accused of and why police were involved. “It’s like he was collecting these lights that were on the lawn. It was not done out of any type of wrongful intent. He was just troubled at the time.”

Henrico police officers eventually placed Otieno into custody without further incident, Krudys said.

Otieno was not able to take the medication while in custody, Krudys said.

He was taken for evaluation to a local hospital, where he became “physically assaultive towards officers,” police said. He was held on three counts of assault on a law enforcement officer, disorderly conduct in a hospital and vandalism, police said.

Otieno was then transferred to the Henrico County Jail West.

March 6: At around 4 p.m. ET, 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.

During the intake process, Otieno became “combative” and was “physically restrained,” the attorney’s office said, citing what state police investigators were told. He died at the hospital “during the intake process,” the office said.

Krudys, who has not seen video of the incident, said the deputies had engaged in excessive force.

“His mother was basically crying out for help for her son in a mental health situation. Instead, he was thrust into the criminal justice system, and aggressively treated and treated poorly at the jail,” he said.

The cause of Otieno’s death has not been released, according to Dinwiddie County Commonwealth’s Attorney Ann Cabell Baskervill.

CNN has sought comment from the Richmond medical examiner’s office and Central State Hospital.