Irvo Otieno was killed in a Virginia Mental Hospital
An autopsy finds Irvo Otieno, held down by deputies and hospital workers, asphyxiated
April 4, 20231:59 PM ET
The casket of Irvo Otieno is carried out of First Baptist Church of South Richmond on March 29 after the celebration of life for Irvo Otieno in North Chesterfield, Va. The 28-year-old Black man died after he was pinned to the floor by seven sheriff's deputies and several others while he was being admitted to a mental hospital.
Eva Russo/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP
RICHMOND, Va. — Irvo Otieno, a 28-year-old Black man whose death last month at a Virginia mental hospital has sparked outrage and led to second-degree murder charges against 10 defendants, died of "positional and mechanical asphyxia with restraints," a medical examiner's office said Monday.
Arkuie Williams, the administrative deputy in the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, confirmed the cause of death findings to The Associated Press after attorneys for Otieno's family first shared them in a statement. The manner of death was homicide, Williams wrote in an email.
Otieno, who struggled with mental illness, died March 6 after he was pinned to the floor while being admitted to Central State Hospital in Dinwiddie County.
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