Three Hospital Workers Charged In Death of Otieno In Virginia

Three hospital workers were charged with second-degree murder in the death of Irvo Otieno in Virginia, bringing the total to 10 people accused, the Dinwiddie County Commonwealth's Attorney said Thursday. The three, who worked at Central State Hospital at the time of Otieno's death, were arrested Thursday after seven sheriff's deputies were arrested and charged earlier this week. The cases of Darian Blackwell, 23, Wavie Jones, 34, and Sadarius Williams, 27, will be presented to a grand jury next week, Axios reports. They are being held without bail. "A key element" of the evidence is surveillance video from Central State Hospital that captured the intake process, said Dinwiddie County Commonwealth’s Attorney Ann Cabell Baskervill.

The video shows the seven deputies pushing a handcuffed Otieno down, said Mark Krudys, an attorney for Otieno's family. "You can see that they’re putting their back into it. Every part of his body is being pushed down with absolute brutality," he added. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represented George Floyd's family, is joining Otieno's family's legal team. "It is truly shocking that nearly three years after the brutal killing of George Floyd by police, another family is grieving a loved one who allegedly died in nearly the exact same manner — being pinned down by police for 12 agonizing minutes," Crump said. Otieno, 28, died on March 6 during the intake process at the mental health facility where he was being transferred to from a county jail.