MADISON, Wis. – On Wednesday, a judge sentenced four former employees of a Milwaukee hotel, who were involved in the death of a man due to a restrictive hold, to a combination of probation and time previously served, ensuring none of them would serve additional time in prison.
Milwaukee County Circuit Judge David Swanson delivered the rulings related to the June 2024 death of D’Vontaye Mitchell after a day-long set of hearings. The case had attracted attention, drawing parallels to the 2020 police incident involving George Floyd.
The judge sentenced Todd Erickson, a former Hyatt security guard, to a two-year prison term but suspended it, placing him on probation for the same duration. Another ex-security guard, Brandon Turner, received a one-year prison sentence, also stayed, placing him on a year’s probation.
Herbert Williamson, previously a bellhop, received a 10-day jail sentence but was credited for the 10 days he had already served. Devin Johnson-Carson, a former front desk employee, was sentenced to four days in jail, also credited for days already served.
Legal representatives for Erickson, Turner, and Williamson did not respond immediately to inquiries. However, Johnson-Carson’s lawyer, Craig Robert Johnson, communicated to The Associated Press via email that the sentencing was justified since Johnson-Carson’s actions were aimed at safeguarding hotel patrons and employees and were not intended to inflict serious harm on Mitchell.
As per the investigation findings, Mitchell had entered the Hyatt’s lobby and proceeded into the women’s restroom. Two women subsequently reported to detectives that Mitchell attempted to confine them in the restroom.
Turner pulled Mitchell out of the bathroom and together with a guest dragged him out of the lobby onto a hotel driveway. Turner, Erickson, Williamson and Johnson-Carson struggled with Mitchell before taking him to the ground and piling on top of him.
Hotel surveillance video shows Johnson-Carson holding Mitchell’s legs while Erickson, Turner and Williamson held down his upper body. They kept him pinned for eight to nine minutes. By the time emergency responders arrived, Mitchell had stopped breathing.
A medical examiner ruled his death a homicide, finding that Mitchell’s immediate cause of death was suffocation and toxic effects of cocaine and methamphetamine.
Prosecutors initially charged all four employees with being a party to felony murder. Turner and Erickson both pleaded guilty to that count. Williamson and Johnson-Carson pleaded guilty to a reduced count of misdemeanor battery.
Attorneys for Mitchell’s family likened his death to the murder of Floyd, a Black man who died after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for about nine minutes. Floyd’s death sparked a national reckoning on racial relations.
Mitchell was Black. Court records identify Erickson as white and Turner, Williamson and Johnson-Carson as Black.
The workers told investigators that Mitchell was strong and tried to bite Erickson, but they didn’t mean to hurt him. Ambridge Hospitality, the company that manages the Hyatt, fired all four of them.
Mitchell’s family reached a confidential settlement with Hyatt.
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