DINWIDDIE COUNTY, Va. -- A jury found Wavie Jones, the former Central State Hospital employee accused in the death of Irvo Otieno, not guilty of involuntary manslaughter.
Otieno died on March 6, 2023 at a public psychiatric facility, Central State Hospital, while surrounded by Henrico County sheriff's deputies and hospital staff. Otieno had been transported to the hospital by deputies while suffering a mental health crisis. The trial began Monday afternoon.
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"My son was in the depths of a mental health crisis," said Caroline Ouko, Otieno's mother, after the verdict. "The verdict here today shows us very clearly that those persons that find themselves in a crisis like my son did have no protection under the law."
Allan Chipman, lead organizer for Otieno's family, said they just came away from a trial where Otieno was "questioned and prosecuted more heavily than the defendant was.
"And this is alarming not just for mother Caroline, but for the mothers, families, loved ones and members of the Commonwealth who are at risk of being in a mental health crisis," Chipman said.
WATCH: Family speaks after hospital worker acquitted in Irvo Otieno death: 'This is alarming'
Defense attorney Doug Ramseur said after the verdict that Jones was "put through 18 months of hell of being wrongfully charged, because he came to work to do his job to try and help people."
"Unfortunately, for the past 18 months, we’ve had to suffer the slings and arrows of distortions, intentional misrepresentations to the press from people who had 8.5 million reasons to sell a different version of this than what the truth was,” Ramseur said.
WATCH: Defense attorney on acquittal in Irvo Otieno trial: ‘Everyone in that room was trying to help’
Dinwiddie Commonwealth's Attorney Amanda Mann released the following statement after the verdict:
"This is not the outcome we sought and while we are disappointed, we respect the jury's decision," Mann wrote. "Given there are additional cases stemming from Mr. Otieno's death pending, its not appropriate for me to comment further. It's important right now for information in these cases to be addressed in court, not the media and beyond."
In closing arguments on Thursday, the Commonwealth repeated that mental illness should not be a death sentence, while the defense pleaded with the jury not to hold Jones accountable for institutional failures to treat those with mental illness.
Prosecutors posed the question if Otieno would still be alive had Jones and others not piled onto him and restrained him on the floor of Central State Hospital for 12 minutes. They believe the answer is yes.
The Commonwealth also said Jones showed a complete disregard for Otieno's life, because he violated hospital policy and acted in contrary to his supervisors' order to get off Otieno.
Prosecutors warned the jury to not let the defense blame the victim, saying Otieno walked into a hospital for help while in crisis without threatening anyone, yet he died 20 minutes later.
The defense said, in response, that "You can't always reason with mental illness."
The defense said prosecutors failed to prove that Jones forcefully pressed down onto Otieno's body or that he ever violated policy. Even if he had, they said it would be justified because Otieno was dangerous and Jones acted in self-defense.
Their final word to the jury was, "Do not respond to a tragedy by creating another."
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