Al Sharpton To Deliver Eulogy For VA Man Killed In Police Custody

RICHMOND, VA — Rev. Al Sharpton will deliver the eulogy Wednesday at the funeral of Irvo Otieno, a 28-year-old Black man who authorities said was smothered to death when as many as ten sheriff's deputies piled on top of him at a Virginia mental hospital.

Otieno's funeral is planned for Wednesday at First Baptist Church of South Richmond in North Chesterfield, according to a news release from the office of civil rights attorney Ben Crump.

Crump, a prominent attorney who represented the family of George Floyd, is expected to "deliver a national call for justice" at the funeral, according to his office.

Crump has said Otieno's treatment parallels Floyd's killing in police custody in Minneapolis in 2020. NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson made a similar comparison in a statement last week.

"Police are simply not a substitute for compassionate and informed mental health professionals," Johnson said. "Rather than neglecting and criminalizing the Black community, we need action to make sure no one experiences or witnesses this kind of violence at the hands of law enforcement ever again."

Seven Henrico County deputies and three hospital workers have been charged with second-degree murder in Otieno's death. Otenio's family said he was brutally mistreated at the state hospital and while in law enforcement custody in the preceding days.

Surveillance video from Central State Hospital released by prosecutors shows the final minutes of Otieno's life on March 6, from the moment Henrico County sheriff's officials dragged him into a hospital admissions room in handcuffs and leg irons to the several minutes during which he was restrained on the ground before his body went limp.

According to timestamps in the footage, which was first reported by The Washington Post, an SUV carrying Otieno arrived at the hospital just before 4 p.m. By 4:19 p.m., a different camera shows him being forcibly led into a room with tables and chairs. He is quickly hauled toward a seat before eventually slumping to the floor, initially in a seated position then lying flat.

As time passes, an increasing number of workers hold him down as he appears to start to move on the floor. Otieno's shirtless body is sometimes obscured by those restraining him or standing in front of the camera.

By the 4:39 p.m. timestamp, someone is taking Otieno's pulse and he appears unresponsive. Soon after, as Otieno's body lies still, someone seems to administer two injections. By 4:42 p.m., CPR appears to be underway. Life-saving efforts seem to go on for nearly an hour. At 5:48 p.m., Otieno's body is draped with a white sheet.

"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 attorneys, according to the Post. "I saw it with my own eyes in the video. He was treated inhumanely, and it was traumatic, and it was systemic."

Otieno appeared to have died from asphyxiation or oxygen deficiency, but final autopsy results have not been released.

According to a WTVR report, the deputies charged include:

• Randy Joseph Boyer, 57, of Henrico.
• Dwayne Alan Bramble, 37, of Sandston.
• Jermaine Lavar Branch, 45, of Henrico.
• Bradley Thomas Disse, 43, of Henrico.
• Tabitha Renee Levere, 50, of Henrico.
• Brandon Edwards Rodgers, 48, of Henrico.
• Kaivell Dajour Sanders, 30, of North Chesterfield.

Three hospital employees were also charged with second-degree murder in connection with Otieno's death, according to a Times-Dispatch report. The employees were:

• Darian M. Blackwell, 23, of Petersburg.
• Wavie L. Jones, 34, of Chesterfield.
• Sadarius D. Williams, 27, of North Dinwiddie.

All 10 defendants have been granted bond and have pre-trial hearings set for late April or May.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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