'Justice for Dvontaye': Mom of man who died outside Hyatt hotel speaks out, asks public for help

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The mother of a man who died last Sunday afternoon, after he was restrained by security guards outside the Hyatt Regency hotel in downtown Milwaukee, is speaking out.

Few details have come to light about 43-year-old Dvontaye Mitchell's last moments alive. Cellphone video captured by a witness showed four people, believed to be hotel security guards, restraining Mitchell as he was laid out on the ground.

In the video, a security guard near Mitchell's head appears to speak to the person filming. He said, "this is what happens when you go into the ladies room." Mitchell can be heard saying, "I'm sorry." The security guard again says, "this is what happens when a man goes in the-" before he is cut off.

It is still unclear if the guards involved were Hyatt employees or contracted workers.

Mitchell's mother, Brenda Giles, said she and her family watched the video on the news.

"All I could hear was, 'please, please, please, I'm sorry, help, help,'" she said. "All these people out here, no one tried to help my son."

Giles said she and her family are still trying to piece together what happened on Sunday, June 30.

"We don't know what happened, we saw what we saw on the news," Giles said. "It was painful, it was devastating, it was frustrating."

The medical examiner's office ruled his death a homicide, though Milwaukee police said they were not treating the incident as a criminal investigation.

Throughout the week, witnesses and legal experts have told CBS 58 News that Mitchell's homicide resembles the 2020 incident where a Minneapolis man named George Floyd died after police officers used excessive force, including kneeling on his neck for several minutes.

"George Floyd's uncle's going to be here, he reached out to me," Giles said, sharing that there will be a press conference around noon on Monday.

When asked if the family would pursue legal action against the Hyatt Regency hotel or its security guards, Giles said yes.

"All of them, they're all involved," she said. "We want them being charged for the murder of my child...justice for Dvontaye Mitchell, which is my son, my teddy bear."

It's been nearly a week since the incident took place and still no answers from Milwaukee police or the Hyatt Regency. CBS 58 News has reached out multiple times to MPD and the hotel and are still waiting for questions to be answered, including the status of the security guards involved in the incident, as well as the vetting, hiring, training, and monitoring of the chain's security guards in general.

The family is now turning to the public for help.

"Anybody out there that has any information, any footage, please share with us," Giles pleaded.

The family is specifically looking for footage captured inside the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Sunday, June 30, after noon.

A balloon release in Mitchell's honor is expected to take place at noon on Saturday, July 6, in downtown Milwaukee, near 3rd Street and Kilbourn Avenue. The public is welcomed to attend and pay their respects.