美国国家公共电台 NPR--Mourners will remember man who died during a mental health crisis at a Va. hospital

Mourners will remember man who died during a mental health crisis at a Va. hospital

Transcript¹

The funeral for Irvo Otieno takes place Wednesday in Richmond, Va. Otieno died earlier this month after 10 people tried to restrain him at a state psychiatric hospital.

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

More than three weeks after Irvo Otieno died during a mental health crisis at a Virginia psychiatric hospital, he will be remembered at a funeral today in Richmond. And here's where I need to tell you that the story will contain detailed² descriptions of violence. Otieno died after seven sheriff's deputies and three hospital workers piled on top of him while trying to restrain him. That was on March 6. All 10 have since been charged with second-degree murder. Whittney Evans with member station VPM in Richmond has been following this and is with us now to tell us more.

Whittney, good morning. Thanks for joining us.

WHITTNEY EVANS, BYLINE³: Good morning.

MARTIN: What do we expect at the funeral today?

EVANS: It's going to be a public event with some high-profile speakers. Reverend Al Sharpton will be eulogizing Otieno, and attorney Ben Crump will deliver a national call for justice on behalf of Otieno, who, I should mention, was 28 years old when he died. Otieno's family and his attorneys have been vocal⁴ throughout this whole process. They've been inviting⁵ the media in to tell Otieno's story - who he was, why they believe what happened to him was unjustifiable. We can expect the same openness at this morning's funeral, where there will likely be a lot of cameras and reporters.

MARTIN: And again, this might be hard to hear, but I'm going to ask you to remind us again about how Otieno died.

EVANS: Sure. Well, the state medical examiner hasn't completed the autopsy⁶ report or given an official cause of death, but the local prosecutor⁷ has said Otieno was suffocated⁸ by the weight of deputies and hospital workers who had pinned him to the floor. He was being admitted to the state psychiatric hospital after a rough few days in police custody⁹. A neighbor had called police to report a burglary because Otieno was allegedly trying to take or rearrange their solar lights. That's unclear.

When sheriff's deputies arrived, they recognized Otieno was in psychological distress¹⁰, so they took him to a regular hospital under an emergency custody order. But once he was there, deputies say he tried to assault officers, so he was taken to jail. It would be another three days before Otieno would be taken to the psychiatric hospital, but he died before he could be admitted. And I'll just remind you, surveillance videos show deputies bringing him into the admissions room wearing handcuffs and leg irons and then pinning him to the floor for more than 10 minutes.

MARTIN: Now, there have already been court appearances and bond hearings. What's happened during those?

EVANS: Well, all 10 of the defendants¹¹ have now been granted bond. The amount of bond ranges from between 5,000 and $25,000, some appearing more culpable¹² for Otieno's death than others, the judge said. Their next hearings are scheduled for later this month and in early May.

MARTIN: And I understand, Whittney, that this death has sparked, you know, renewed emphasis in Virginia on how to deal with people in a mental health crisis. What can you tell us about that?

EVANS: Well, this death, as you mentioned, has revived questions about how law enforcement handles people who are having a mental health crisis and whether they should be involved at all. Shortly after George Floyd was murdered by police in Minneapolis, Virginia lawmakers set out to change how police interact with the public, especially those who are in crisis. And they implemented¹³ a program called the Marcus Alert. It's named after another Black man in Richmond who was fatally shot by police while experiencing a mental health crisis. And it's supposed to have behavioral health specialists responding to psychiatric emergencies, not police. But it hasn't been implemented in Henrico County yet, so - and that's where it happened, just outside of Richmond. Now they say they hope to have it up by next year, which is perfectly¹⁴ fine by the law. The family is, of course, calling on state officials, including Governor Glenn Youngkin, to do something to prevent this from happening in the future.

MARTIN: That's Whittney Evans with VPM in Richmond. Whittney, thank you.

Thank you.

(SOUNDBITE OF CHRISTIAN SCOTT'S "ANGOLA, LA AND THE 13TH AMENDMENT")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

5 inviting   

adj.诱人的，引人注目的

参考例句：

• An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
• The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人，使人感到亲切温馨。

6 autopsy   

n.尸体解剖；尸检

参考例句：

• They're carrying out an autopsy on the victim.他们正在给受害者验尸。
• A hemorrhagic gut was the predominant lesion at autopsy.尸检的主要发现是肠出血。

7 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

8 suffocated   

（使某人）窒息而死( suffocate的过去式和过去分词 )； （将某人）闷死； 让人感觉闷热； 憋气

参考例句：

• Many dogs have suffocated in hot cars. 许多狗在热烘烘的汽车里给闷死了。
• I nearly suffocated when the pipe of my breathing apparatus came adrift. 呼吸器上的管子脱落时，我差点给憋死。

9 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

10 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

11 defendants   

被告( defendant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The courts heard that the six defendants had been coerced into making a confession. 法官审判时发现6位被告人曾被迫承认罪行。
• As in courts, the defendants are represented by legal counsel. 与法院相同，被告有辩护律师作为代表。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

12 culpable   

adj.有罪的，该受谴责的

参考例句：

• The judge found the man culpable.法官认为那个人有罪。
• Their decision to do nothing makes them culpable.他们不采取任何行动的决定使他们难辞其咎。

13 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

14 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。