Felony murder charges have been filed against four people in connection with the death of D’Vontaye Mitchell, who died in June after security guards restrained him outside a Milwaukee hotel, the prosecutor’s office said Tuesday.
Mitchell, 43, died from suffocation and the effects of multiple drugs in the incident on June 30, and his manner of death was ruled a homicide, the Milwaukee County medical examiner said in a report released last week.
A charge of felony murder has been filed each against Todd Alan Erickson, Devin W. Johnson-Carson, Brandon LaDaniel Turner and Herbert T. Williamson, according to court documents.
The Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office said arrest warrants have been issued for all four.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump has compared the death of Mitchell, who was Black, to the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020 when he was restrained by a police officer who was convicted and sentenced to 22½ years in prison.
The charge of felony murder carries up to 15 years and nine months in prison upon conviction, the charging documents say.
Online court records did not show attorneys for Erickson, Johnson-Carson, Turner or Williamson. Phone numbers for them could not immediately be found Tuesday.
On June 30, four hotel employees, including security guards, pinned Mitchell face down on the ground outside the downtown Hyatt Regency hotel, according to officials and court documents.
Police have said a person had entered the business, “caused a disturbance” and “fought with security guards as they were escorting” him out. Security detained him until police arrived.
Police wrote in the criminal complaint that when officers arrived around 4:30 p.m., Mitchell was on the ground in a driveway and not breathing.
Erickson and Turner were employed as security guards, Williamson was working as a bell driver door attendant, and Johnson-Carson was a front desk agent, police wrote in the document.
Police allege in the complaint that during a struggle, Mitchell was tackled, punched and kicked — Turner is accused of striking Mitchell three times with a closed fist, Johnson-Carson is accused of striking him once with a fist, and Erickson is accused of kicking him in the torso.
Video showed Mitchell being held on the ground for 8 to 9 minutes, police wrote in the complaint, and at various times he struggled to break free.
"Towards the end of that time period, DM has stopped showing movement or resistance or other signs of life," police wrote, referring to Mitchell by his initials.
The four suspects spoke with police after the incident, police said.
Police said Erickson told officers that Mitchell was struggling so they held him down. “Erickson stated that he did not do anything to intentionally harm or kill DM,” they wrote in the complaint.
Williamson told investigators that he and others were telling Mitchell to calm down, and Williamson said he thought Mitchell was responsive, police wrote.
“The next thing you know, I realized he was unconscious,” police quoted Williamson as saying.
Johnson-Carson said he was holding Mitchell’s feet and could hear him groaning and saying “stop” and “why,” police wrote.
Johnson-Carson also told police, according to the complaint, that he thought he remembered Mitchell’s saying something about breathing but could not remember exactly what he said.
Johnson-Carson said that none of the four expressed any belief that Mitchell was not breathing when he was on the ground and that Erickson checked his pulse a few times, police wrote in the complaint.
Police in the criminal complaint cited a video posted to Facebook that “shows loud breathing and gasps" and Mitchell saying he is sorry.
Mitchell’s family had demanded that criminal charges be brought.
Crump called the murder charges Tuesday "a significant step towards justice."
"This case underscores the critical need for comprehensive training and oversight of security personnel to ensure that they are equipped to handle situations without resorting to excessive force," he said in a statement. "The charges filed today are an important step, but they are just the beginning. D’Vontaye’s life mattered, and his story will not be forgotten.”
Phil Helsel is a reporter for NBC News.
