4 hotel employees charged with being party to felony murder in connection with Black man’s death

MADISON, Wis. —  Prosecutors have charged four Milwaukee hotel employees with felony murder in connection with D’Vontaye Mitchell’s death.

Mitchell was Black. The incident in June has drawn comparisons to the murder of George Floyd, a Black man who died in 2020 after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into his neck for about nine minutes. Floyd’s death sparked a national reckoning on race relations and police brutality marked by mass protests around the country.

If convicted, the men charged — hotel security guard Todd Erickson, front desk worker Devin Johnson-Carson, bellhop Herbert Williamson and security guard Brandon Turner — could face up to 15 years and nine months in prison.

Reached by telephone Tuesday evening, Erickson referred a request for comment to his attorney, Michael Steinle, who didn’t return voicemail or email messages. It was unclear whether any of the other three employees had attorneys. A telephone listing for Williamson had been disconnected, and the Associated Press could not immediately locate contact information for the others.

The Milwaukee County district attorney’s office said in a news release that arrest warrants had been issued for all four employees. The office and the Milwaukee Police Department did not immediately respond to emails inquiring if the employees had been arrested or had attorneys.

According to a criminal complaint, the four employees dragged Mitchell out of the Hyatt Hotel on June 30 after he entered a woman’s bathroom.

Two women who were in the bathroom told investigators that Mitchell tried to lock the bathroom door. One woman said he refused to let her out; she was eventually able to push past him.

The hotel employees held Mitchell on his stomach for eight or nine minutes. One of the employees told investigators that Mitchell was having trouble breathing and repeatedly pleaded for help, according to the complaint.

An autopsy showed that Mitchell suffered from morbid obesity and had ingested cocaine and methamphetamine, the complaint said.

Hyatt surveillance video shows Mitchell frantically running into the hotel’s lobby and then into the gift shop before entering the women’s bathroom, the complaint said. A few seconds later, a woman emerges and Turner, who was off duty but was visiting staff at that moment, drags Mitchell into the lobby by his shirt.

The two begin to struggle, and Turner punches Mitchell, knocking him to the floor. He then punches Mitchell six more times and drags him out of the hotel with the help of a bystander. Mitchell gets up and tries to go back inside.

Williamson, Johnson-Carson and Erickson then join the fray. Together with Turner they hold Mitchell down on his stomach before police and emergency responders arrive. The video shows that during that span, Mitchell tries to break free multiple times, and Erickson hits him with a baton before he eventually stops moving, according to the complaint.

The county medical examiner determined that Mitchell died of “restraint asphyxia.” He may have lived if the employees allowed him to turn onto his side, the medical examiner said, according to the complaint.

Erickson told investigators that Mitchell was very strong and kept resisting them and tried to bite him. But the guard said he never did anything to intentionally hurt or harm Mitchell.

Turner told a detective he heard women screaming in the bathroom after Mitchell entered it, and he thought Mitchell was on drugs, the complaint said. Johnson-Carson told investigators that Mitchell was not in a “stable sort of mind” and was speaking “gibberish,” the complaint said.

He said Mitchell displayed “clear signs of extreme distress, including gags, distressed breathing and repeated pleas for help,” according to the complaint, which concludes that the employees had to have known Mitchell was in distress.

Mitchell’s relatives and their lawyers had previously reviewed hotel surveillance video provided by the district attorney’s office. A bystander’s video caught Mitchell yelling “please” and “I’m sorry” while breathing heavily. Erickson turns to the camera and says: “This is what happens when you go into the ladies’ room.”

DeAsia Harmon, Mitchell’s widow, said the charges were a relief. But she questioned why it took weeks. “These people are on camera taking my husband’s life,” she said. “They should have been charged the moment they did that.”

Aimbridge Hospitality, the company that manages the hotel, said previously that several employees involved in Mitchell’s death have been fired.

The company released a statement Tuesday evening saying it had cooperated fully with law enforcement and will continue to cooperate with prosecutors. “Our hearts are with Mr. Mitchell’s family and loved ones as this case moves forward,” the statement said.

Richmond writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Kathleen Foody in Chicago contributed to this report.