The Root, Published By: Kalyn Womack
The family of Irvo Otieno, a mental health patient who died in police custody, gave the gruesome details of what they saw in the moments ahead of his death. Attorney Benjamin Crump the video was an example of the inhumane ways the police treat mentally ill citizens like criminals instead of people in need of help, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Outside the Dinwiddie County prosecutor’s office, Crump joined the family of Irvin Otieno, 28, as they spoke about the contents of the surveillance footage related to the incident. Otieno’s mother, Caroline Ouka, called a psychiatrist for help bringing him to a mental hospital. When the police arrived, they mistook Otieno for a burglary suspect and detained him. In the county jail, Crump and co-counsel Mary Krudys said Otieno was naked in his cell when the deputies beat him and pepper sprayed him. They also said the deputies bound him by his ankles and wrists and pinned him down with all their weight for what was estimated to be 12 minutes.
“Those three days at the jail were horrific. I’ve seen it in the video. Mental illness should not be your ticket to death. There was a chance to rescue him… and I don’t understand how all systems failed him. My son was treated like a dog. Worse than a dog… He was treated inhumanely and it was traumatic,” said Ouka.
These heinous descriptions were just from Otieno’s time in jail. The description of the footage from the hospital was even more disturbing. Read more
