Family of man who died while being admitted to psychiatric hospital agrees to $8.5M settlement
World
Family of man who died while being admitted to psychiatric hospital agrees to $8.5M settlement
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The family of a man who died while handcuffed and pinned to the floor for about 11 minutes as he was being admitted to a Virginia psychiatric hospital has reached an $8.5 million settlement with the state and the county and sheriff whose deputies were involved in restraining him.
A judge approved the out-of-court wrongful death settlement Tuesday, according to public records.
Irvo Otieno, a 28-year-old Black man, died in March after being pressed to the floor of Central State Hospital for about 11 minutes by a group of Henrico County sheriff’s deputies and hospital employees. Surveillance video that captured how Otieno was treated at the facility where he was set to receive care sparked outrage across the U.S. and calls for mental health and policing reforms.
His death was ruled a homicide by asphyxiation. Ten defendants were indicted on second-degree murder charges, but charges against two of the hospital employees were later dropped.
