MILWAUKEE — Four men are facing felony murder charges in connection to the death of D’vontaye Mitchell outside the Hyatt Regency in downtown Milwaukee on June 30.
The Milwaukee Police Department has issued arrest warrants for 60-year-old Todd Alan Erickson, 23-year-old Devin W. Johnson-Carson, 35-year-old Brandon LaDaniel Turner and 52-year-old Herbert T. Williamson.
43-year-old Mitchell died during a confrontation with security that involved him being pinned to the ground for approximately eight to nine minutes. The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled D’vontaye Mitchell’s death a homicide on Friday. It determined Mitchell also had drugs in his system and that he died from restraint asphyxia.
A criminal complaint alleges the four former Hyatt hotel employees did cause the death of Dvontaye Mitchell while committing misdemeanor battery, as a party to a crime.
According to the complaint, Erickson and Turner were employed as hotel security guards, Williamson worked as a bell driver door attendant and Johnson-Carson worked as a front desk agent.
Security video from the Hyatt Regency shows Mitchell running through the hotel lobby, into the gift shop and eventually entering the women’s bathroom. Two witnesses inside the bathroom at the time say he tried to lock the door from inside. After Mitchell stood in front of the door, one witness pushed past him and was able to exit the bathroom.
Turner then enters the bathroom to drag Mitchell out by his shirt and escorts him towards the hotel entrance on Kilbourn. The two then begin to struggle in the main lobby, Turner at one point knocking Mitchell to the floor. Turner and a civilian hotel guest then drag Mitchell through the sliding doors of the entrance. At one point, another hotel employee identified as TB in the complaint uses a broom to strike Mitchell twice in the legs.
As Mitchell appears to try re-entering the hotel, Turner, Johnson-Carson, Williamson and Erickson surround him. They tackle Mitchell to the ground, each striking Mitchell with a closed fist, kicking him and using force to keep his face on the ground. At one point Erickson strikes him with a collapsible baton.
The complaint says at some points the four men appear to simply be restraining Mitchell, while at other times they use force to keep him on the ground until police and first responders arrive on-scene.
Mitchell stops showing movement, resistance or other signs of life towards the end of the eight to nine minutes he is pinned to the ground.
The criminal complaint notes that although Mitchell physically resisted the four men, he did not instigate any violence or display obviously aggressive or threatening behavior.
In a separate video obtained from Facebook (which, unlike the Hyatt security footage, has audio), Mitchell can be heard loudly yelling “Please!” and “I’m sorry” with a tone consistent with an individual out of breath.
If convicted, each of the men face the maximum penalty for felony murder at 15 years and nine months in prison.
