CNN
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Seven central Virginia sheriff’s deputies have been arrested and charged with second-degree homicide after a person of their custody died shortly after they took him from county jail to a state psychological well being facility, authorities say.
The 28-year-old man died March 6, three days after officers encountered him whereas responding to a attainable housebreaking, police mentioned in a information launch.
His household’s lawyer recognized the person as Ivor Otieno; police and prosecutors used the primary identify Irvo.
“The household is grief stricken after studying of the brutal nature of Ivor’s dying and his inhumane remedy within the hours previous his dying,” Mark Krudys, the lawyer for Otieno’s household, informed CNN. “The general public, and skilled mental-health professionals alike, shall be deeply disturbed when the info of this case are totally made identified.”
The Henrico County deputies turned themselves in to state police Tuesday and are on administrative go away as investigations by their company and state police proceed, county Sheriff Alisa Gregory mentioned in an announcement.
“The occasions of March 6, at their core, signify a tragedy as a result of Mr. Otieno’s life was misplaced,” the assertion reads partly. “This loss is felt by not solely these near him however our complete group.”
The case comes as regulation enforcement use of power has been beneath scrutiny nationwide.
After officers encountered Otieno on March 3, they – with the county’s Disaster Intervention Crew – put him beneath an emergency custody order resulting from their interactions with and observations of him, Henrico police mentioned in a information launch.
Based on Virginia regulation, an individual will be positioned beneath an emergency custody order when there’s cause to imagine they may harm themselves or others on account of psychological sickness.
Otieno was taken for analysis to a neighborhood hospital, the place he turned “bodily assaultive in the direction of officers,” police mentioned. He was held on three counts of assault on a regulation enforcement officer, disorderly conduct in a hospital and vandalism, police mentioned.
Otieno was then transferred to the Henrico County Jail West.
Then round 4 p.m. on March 6, Otieno was taken to be admitted to Central State Hospital, a state-run psychological well being facility south of Richmond, by the Henrico County Sheriff’s Workplace, in line with a information launch from the commonwealth’s lawyer for Dinwiddie County, Ann Cabell Baskervill. It’s not clear why deputies transferred Otieno.
Through the consumption course of, Otieno turned “combative,” and was “bodily restrained,” the lawyer’s workplace mentioned, citing what state police investigators had been informed.
Otieno died on the hospital “through the consumption course of,” in line with the discharge.
Virginia State Police had been known as to analyze his dying at 7:28 p.m., the discharge states.
The reason for Otieno’s dying has not been launched, Baskervill informed CNN in an electronic mail. CNN has sought remark from the Richmond health worker’s workplace and Central State Hospital.
The seven deputies who had been charged had been recognized in Baskervill’s launch as Randy Joseph Boyer, 57, of Henrico; Dwayne Alan Bramble, 37, of Sandston; Jermaine Lavar Department, 45, of Henrico; Bradley Thomas Disse, 43, of Henrico; Tabitha Renee Levere, 50, of Henrico; Brandon Edwards Rodgers, 48, of Henrico; and Kaiyell Dajour Sanders, 30, of North Chesterfield.
Dinwiddie County Courtroom information present that the deputies had been scheduled to seem in courtroom Wednesday morning for an appointed counsel listening to. All seven are slotted to seem earlier than a grand jury on March 21, courtroom information present.
CNN has sought remark from the deputies.