MILWAUKEE — Attorneys for the family of D’Vontaye Mitchell, who died in June after being wrestled to the ground by hotel staff outside a Hyatt Regency in Milwaukee, announced Monday that a settlement has been reached with the hotel’s third-party operator.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, along with Milwaukee attorneys Will Sulton and B’Ivory Lamarr, said in a joint statement that in recent weeks they have “engaged in good faith conversations with the goal of helping to find resolution for the family of D’Vontaye Mitchell.”
“We are pleased to announce that we have reached an amicable settlement,” they added. “The terms of the settlement will remain confidential. The parties are pleased to have been able to resolve this matter outside of court and will have no further comment on the settlement.”
Aimbridge Hospitality, the Hyatt’s third-party operator, confirmed the agreement in a statement Monday. The operator said the agreement was “the result of good faith discussions with representatives of D’Vontaye Mitchell’s family with the goal of providing some comfort to the family as they grieve this tragic loss.”
Monday’s announcement comes just hours after criminal charges were filed against the four hotel employees accused of killing Mitchell. Mitchell, 43, died June 30 outside the Hyatt Regency hotel in downtown Milwaukee after hotel employees held him face down on the ground for about nine minutes.
Surveillance footage shared earlier this month by Mitchell’s wife, DeAsia Harmon, and Sulton, Harmon’s attorney, showed Mitchell running through the hotel lobby, being repeatedly punched by staff and a bystander, and being pinned down. The footage’s release came the same day the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled Mitchell’s death a homicide.
The incident drew national attention and was compared to the 2020 killing of George Floyd, a black man who was pinned to the ground with a knee on his neck by a Minneapolis police officer for more than nine minutes.
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Four Milwaukee hotel employees charged with murder
On August 6, Milwaukee County prosecutors filed charges against the four hotel employees accused of playing a role in Mitchell’s death. They are all charged with murder.
Todd Alan Erickson, 60, Brandon LaDaniel Turner, 35, and Herbert T. Williamson, 52, all of Milwaukee, and Devin W. Johnson-Carson, 23, of South Milwaukee, were in court Monday.
Erickson and Turner were employed by the hotel as security guards; Williamson worked as a doorman and Johnson-Carson was a front desk clerk. Aimbridge Hospitality fired all four employees in July.
Milwaukee County Court Commissioner Rosa M. Barillas sent each man’s cases to trial after determining there was sufficient probable cause to support the charges. None of the men pleaded guilty to the charge.
They are due back in court on August 22 for their arraignment.
Mitchell’s family members were also in court, some wearing white T-shirts that read “Justice for D’Vontaye.” They declined to speak to reporters as they left the courthouse.
D’Vontaye Mitchell’s death is being ruled a homicide
The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled on August 2 that Mitchell’s death was a homicide, caused by being restrained and the toxic effects of cocaine and methamphetamine. In its final report, the medical examiner’s office said Mitchell was “subdued by four people after a fight in the hotel lobby.”
“He reportedly lost consciousness while staff waited for police to arrive,” the report added. “Illicit drug paraphernalia was found on his person.”
Dr. Lauren Decker, a medical examiner with the medical examiner’s office, said Mitchell had scratches and bruises on his face and his body showed signs of “restraint asphyxia,” a condition that develops when a person’s body position makes it difficult to breathe.
Mitchell was obese for his height (he stood 6 feet 11 inches tall and weighed more than 300 pounds), had an enlarged heart and also had cocaine and methamphetamine in his system. All of these could have contributed to his death, she said.
At the time of the report’s release, Sulton criticized the medical examiner’s office’s decision to include drug use in the report. “The report confirms what we all saw on video, that Mr. Mitchell was murdered by Hyatt security officers,” he said.
What happened on June 30?
Milwaukee Police Detective Martin Saavedra testified at the hearing about video of the incident shown to him by Hyatt staff.
The footage shows Mitchell running through the hotel lobby and then into a gift shop. From there, he heads to the women’s restroom. Turner is then seen entering the same restroom and, moments later, escorting Mitchell out, Saavedra testified.
Turner tried to grab Mitchell, but Mitchell resisted. Once in the lobby, the men were seen pushing each other, Saavedra said.
According to Saavedra, the fight between Turner and Mitchell quickly escalated into Turner punching Mitchell. At one point, Mitchell was thrown to the ground, attracting the attention of a hotel guest, who intervened.
Mitchell was then dragged outside into the valet area, and a Hyatt employee grabbed a broom handle and began hitting Mitchell. “At some point, the individuals took control of him and put him on his stomach,” Saavedra said.
Once on his stomach, Mitchell can be heard on a Facebook Live video captured by a bystander repeatedly saying, “I’m sorry,” Saavedra testified.
A criminal complaint alleges that Turner punched Mitchell six times after the employee hit Mitchell in the legs with the broom. Footage also shows Williamson and Johnson-Carter trying to help Erickson and Turner force Mitchell onto his stomach, while holding him down, according to the complaint.
Investigators said in the complaint that Turner, Erickson and Williamson applied varying amounts of force to Mitchell’s back, shoulders and arms as they held him on the ground. Mitchell tried to break free of the men’s restraints several times but then stopped showing resistance or other signs of life, the complaint said.
Contributing: David Clarey and Drake Bentley, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
This article was originally published in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: D’Vontaye Mitchell case: Family reaches settlement with hotel operator
