At funeral services at a Virginia church to mourn Irvo Otieno, there was also a call to remember him as a symbol of how mentally ill people are treated by law enforcement and the need for change.
“The disgrace was not that Irvo had mental problems. The disgrace is how you treated Irvo,” the Rev. Al Sharpton told the mourners on Wednesday at First Baptist Church on Iron Bridge Road North.
Otieno, 28, of Henrico County, died at Central State Hospital in Dinwiddie County on March 6. Seven Henrico County sheriff’s deputies and three hospital workers have been charged with second-degree murder.
Standing on a stage overlooking Otieno’s bronze-colored coffin, covered in flowers, Sharpton repeatedly reminded the mourners that Otieno was handcuffed and shackled when he died, and reiterated his family’s belief that his death was a result of being treated as a criminal and not as a mental patient, and should never have been taken to a jail.
“I was already concerned when I saw the tape and saw men — who were sworn to enforce the law and others who were called upon to deal with the ill — and they started to stack on top of Irvo,” Sharpton said. “I know he (Otieno) had an illness, but what was wrong with them?”
Sharpton acknowledged the discussion of the training of law officers in dealing with the mentally ill.
“He had a sickness and an illness, and if you are not trained to deal with the illness, you should not show up to answer the call. You answered the call and now you have to be held accountable for what you did,” the reverend said.
Looking at Otieno’s family, his mother, Caroline Ouko, and his brother, Leon Ochieng, the reverend said that Otieno will become a symbol of what needs to be done across the country so mentally ill people, especially Black, do not face a “death sentence” when they are confronted by law enforcement.
“He had an illness. He should have been doctored to, not treated with brutality,” Sharpton said.
Sharpton: ‘There must be an Irvo law’
To an escalating chorus from the crowd of approval as he spoke, Sharpton called for reform on treatment of the mentally ill, not just on the streets but also in psychiatric facilities. “There will be an Irvo law. There must be an Irvo law.”
The service was often words of grief, anguish and calls for justice interwoven with uplifting religious hymns as some congregants swayed to the music while holding their open palms facing upward.
A video tribute of Otieno’s life, set to lyrics written by Otieno, played for the worshippers as images of him from his boyhood, teenage to his young adulthood faded from one stage of his life to another, often with friends or family at his side. At the end of the video, the worshippers stood in ovation and applauded.
Richard Cullen, a counselor to the governor, represented Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s office. Michael Jones, the Richmond City Council president, attended the services along with representatives local NAACP branches, including Chesterfield. “We must do more as legislators for mental health,” Jones said at the service.
EVA RUSSO/TIMES-DISPATCH
(From left) Caroline Ouko and Leon Ochieng, mother and older brother of Irvo Otieno, react near the casket during the celebration of life for Irvo Otieno at First Baptist Church in North Chesterfield, VA on March 29, 2023.
10 charged with second-degree murder
The funeral was also covered by news media from Otieno’s native Kenya. He had immigrated from Kenya when he was 4.
Nationally known civil rights lawyer Benjamin Crump acknowledged that Otieno’s death was news overseas. “Irvo was not just a son of America. He was a son of Africa. He was a son of Virginia. He was a son of Henrico.”
Video obtained by the Richmond Times-Dispatch show Otieno pinned to the ground for 12 minutes at Central State Hospital. The county prosecutor, Ann Cabell Baskervill, who brought charges has said that Otieno was smothered to death. Attorneys for the defendants said they were trying to restrain him.
An autopsy is still pending.
