4 Hyatt hotel employees charged with felony murder in death of D'Vontaye Mitchell

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office filed felony murder charges against four men Tuesday, Aug. 6, in connection to the death of D'Vontaye Mitchell outside the downtown Hyatt Regency Hotel in June.

A criminal complaint identifies those charged as Todd Erickson, Devin Johnson-Carson, Brandon Turner and Herbert Williamson. Erickson and Turner worked as security guards at the hotel, Williamson was a door attendant and Johnson-Carter was a desk attendant.

Surveillance footage and video captured by onlookers showed the four men were all involved in detaining Mitchell outside the hotel right up until his death. 

The DA's office says arrest warrants have been issued. As of Wednesday evening, one of those men-Todd Erickson- is behind bars. 

William Sulton, an attorney representing Mitchell's family, expressed frustration at a press conference Tuesday evening. Standing with Mitchell's wife, DeAsia Harmon, Sulton maintained prosecutors only filed charges because protesters had made enough noise, staging several demonstrations downtown over the past five weeks.

"This happened because of the family's continued demonstration in front of the Hyatt, the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office," Sulton said. "This happened because they hired lawyers to get involved."

Harmon said she felt a sense of relief criminal charges had been filed, but she added she's still angry because she believed the workers who hit and held down her husband should have been charged immediately.

"It's something they should've done already. They are charging them with the obvious," Harmon said. "We've all seen the videos. We've all heard the audio."

Surveillance videos inside the hotel showed Mitchell enter the hotel and run across the hotel lobby, going from the gift shop into a women's bathroom. A man, identified as Turner in the complaint, goes into the bathroom and pulls Mitchell out of the room.

The two men struggle after that, and another man, identified as a guest staying at the hotel, helps Turner pull Mitchell toward the door. At that point, Turner punches Mitchell in the head area several times. Another worker is seen hitting Mitchell in the legs with a broom.

Outside the hotel, Turner and the three other workers restrain Mitchell. At one point, Erickson hits Mitchell in the head area multiple times with a collapsible baton. The charging documents note a bystander's recording has audio where Mitchell can be heard shouting "please" while struggling to breathe.

Prosecutors noted the videos showed Mitchell demonstrate "continuous physical resistance against the men" trying to remove him. However, they add that throughout the encounter, Mitchell "does not instigate any violence or display and obviously aggressive or threatening behavior."

Cause of death

The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office ruled Mitchell's death a homicide and stated the cause of death was restraint asphyxia and toxic effects of cocaine and methamphetamines.

One woman who was in the hotel bathroom when Mitchell entered, and the guest who helped pull Mitchell out of the hotel, both told investigators Mitchell was acting in a manner that made them think he was on drugs.

The autopsy cited the various videos in concluding Mitchell's death was a homicide, because restraint asphyxia might not have occurred if the workers hadn't moved to keep Mitchell on his stomach. 

Sulton said he was not worried about Mitchell's drug history affecting how juries would handle future trials of any of the defendants.

"I've been a trial lawyer for 15 years. I've been handling wrongful death cases for 15 years. It is just simply not true [that Mitchell's drug use should clear the workers]," he said. "It is a completely bogus theory that has been debunked. It was the Derek Chauvin defense that didn't work in Minneapolis [in the George Floyd trial.]"

Lingering frustrations and a future lawsuit

Harmon said she also remained upset at the Milwaukee Police Department, which initially said it was not investigating Mitchell's death as a homicide.

"It pisses me off," she said. "I'm angry."

She said when the first officers arrived, she could see the workers holding down Mitchell as he was having a hard time breathing.

"These people are on camera taking my husband's life," she said. "They should've been charged the moment they did that."

In his interview with investigators, Johnson-Carson said he did not believe Mitchell was posing a danger by the time he and the other workers had gotten him down to the ground outside the hotel.

Prosecutors cited an affidavit Johnson-Carson also provided Sulton in which he said he believed the level of force used against Mitchell was excessive and wanted to stop restraining him earlier, but Erickson, who was a security supervisor, told the men to keep Mitchell down.

Sulton said the family plans to file a lawsuit against Aimbridge Hospitality, which franchises the downtown Hyatt location. The company fired the four workers last month.