Former Milwaukee Hotel Workers Charged with Felony Murder

Three of the four men charged in the death of #DVontayeMitchell at Milwaukee's Hyatt Regency are now in custody. As the fight for accountability continues, we must keep demanding #JusticeForDVontaye! https://t.co/nh1wt1tnIl

— Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) August 8, 2024

Four former employees of the Hyatt Regency hotel in Milwaukee have been charged with felony murder in connection with the death of D’Vontaye Mitchell. The charges come after video footage showed the employees holding down Mitchell, a Black man, for an extended period on June 30. According to the criminal complaint, the incident began when Mitchell ran through the hotel lobby, entered the gift shop, and then the women’s bathroom.

⚠️ Graphic Content ⚠️
The final moments of D’Vontaye Mitchell’s life were captured on surveillance inside the Hyatt in Milwaukee. Security workers — 4 of whom face murder charges — dragged & beat D’Vontaye before holding him down for 8-9 fatal minutes while he pled for help. pic.twitter.com/ykG2r1wivk

— Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) August 8, 2024

Off-duty security guard Brandon Turner dragged Mitchell out of the bathroom and got into a scuffle with him, along with a hotel guest. They dragged Mitchell across the lobby and into the hotel driveway, where Turner punched him six times. Outside, on-duty security guard Todd Erickson, bellhop Herbert Williamson, and front desk worker Devin Johnson-Carson helped hold Mitchell down on his stomach for eight to nine minutes.

Johnson-Carson reported hearing Mitchell groaning and asking them to stop, expressing difficulty breathing. Erickson responded dismissively and struck Mitchell with a baton. Williamson admitted to putting his knee on Mitchell’s back, stating that Mitchell resisted and tried to bite Erickson.

CHARGES FILED: Prosecutors filed charges against four men connected to the death of D’Vontaye Mitchell outside of a Milwaukee hotel @WISN12News https://t.co/6RwtAX1R6h

— Gerron Jordan (@GerronJordan) August 7, 2024

Former hotel workers’ fatal restraint

By the time police and emergency responders arrived, Mitchell had stopped moving. The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office determined that Mitchell, who was morbidly obese and had heart disease, also had cocaine and methamphetamine in his system.

Assistant Medical Examiner Lauren Decker concluded that Mitchell died from “restraint asphyxia” due to being held down. She noted that Mitchell might have survived had he been repositioned onto his side. Mitchell’s family compared his death to that of George Floyd, who died in 2020 after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes.

The family hired civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who emphasized the need for better training for security personnel post-Floyd’s death. District Attorney John Chisholm’s office reviewed the case as a homicide but waited for full autopsy results before pressing charges. The criminal complaint highlighted that the four employees’ actions impaired Mitchell’s breathing and noted that it was practically certain to cause harm given Mitchell’s physical condition and drug consumption.

The former hotel employees – Brandon Turner, Todd Erickson, Herbert Williamson, and Devin Johnson-Carson – face sentences of up to nearly 16 years in prison if convicted of felony murder.