US Police launch probe on mentally ill Kenyan’s death
Police in the United States have launched investigations after a Kenyan died while being admitted to a hospital.
Irvo N. Otieno, 28, is said to have passed on while being admitted at Central State Hospital in Dinwiddie County.
The deceased who was an inmate at the time of being transported had been charged with several criminal offenses, was transported to the hospital due to a mental health crisis.
According to local media, the standard protocol for transport by officers is that a prisoner has on handcuffs and shackles.
It was reported to state police that Otieno became combative during the admission process. He was restrained and later died, police said in a statement.
Local county paramedics were called to the scene at 4:30pm and tried to revive the patient but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Otieno’s body was moved to the Office of Chief Medical Examiner in Richmond for an examination and autopsy.
“The investigation remains ongoing at this time,” the statement added.
Otieno had been arrested on March 3 in Henrico on charges of disorderly conduct at a hospital, destruction of property and three counts of assaulting a law enforcement officer for offenses that occurred that same day.
He was held at Henrico Jail until he was transferred to Central State, a maximum-security psychiatric facility run by the state.
Local officers said that they have investigated everything up until the transport and there are no issues with any of their actions.
“They handled things properly and from my personal point of view, they went above and beyond.”
The four deputies who performed the transport remains on duty.
Officials with the Department of Behavioral Health, which oversees Central State, said they are cooperating with the investigation and that their thoughts are with Otieno’s family during this difficult time.
The investigation by the Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation’s remains ongoing, officials with state police said.
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