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Family reaches agreement with hotel operator

The settlement, announced Monday, was reached between D'Vontaye Mitchell's family and Ambridge Hospitality, Hyatt's third-party provider.

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MILWAUKEE – Attorneys for the family of D'Vontaye Mitchell, who died in June after being pinned to the ground by hotel employees outside a Hyatt Regency in Milwaukee, announced Monday that a settlement had been reached with the hotel's third-party operator.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump and Milwaukee attorneys Will Sulton and B'Ivory Lamarr said in a joint statement that they had “engaged in good faith discussions in recent weeks with the goal of helping to find a solution for the family of D'Vontaye Mitchell.”

“We are pleased to announce that we have reached an amicable settlement,” they added. “The terms of any agreement will be kept confidential. The parties are pleased to have been able to resolve this matter out of court and will have no further comment on the settlement.”

Aimbridge Hospitality, the Hyatt's third-party provider, confirmed the settlement in a statement on Monday. The operator said the settlement 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 in their grief over this tragic loss.”

Monday's announcement came just hours after a court commissioner cleared for trial the criminal cases 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 facedown for about nine minutes.

Surveillance footage released earlier this month by Mitchell's wife, DeAsia Harmon, and Sulton, Harmon's attorney, shows Mitchell running through the hotel lobby, being repeatedly punched and restrained by staff and bystanders. The footage was released the same day the Milwaukee County coroner ruled Mitchell's death a homicide.

The incident attracted national attention and was compared to the murder of George Floyd in 2020. At that time, a Minneapolis police officer held a black man to the ground with his knee on his neck for over nine minutes.

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On August 6, the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office filed charges against the four hotel employees who allegedly played a role in Mitchell's death. All of them face murder charges.

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, appeared in court Monday.

Erickson and Turner worked as security guards at the hotel, Williamson worked as a bellman and doorman, and Johnson-Carson worked as a front desk clerk. Aimbridge Hospitality laid off the four employees in July.

Rosa M. Barillas, the Milwaukee County Court Chief Judge, scheduled the two men's cases for trial after determining there was sufficient probable cause to charge them. Neither man has admitted his guilt.

They are expected back in court on August 22 for arraignment.

Members of Mitchell's family were also in the courtroom. Some wore white T-shirts that read “Justice for D'Vontaye.” As they left the courthouse, they refused to speak to reporters.

The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office on August 2 determined that Mitchell's death was a homicide caused by restraint and the toxic effects of cocaine and methamphetamine. In its final report, the medical examiner's office said Mitchell was “restrained by four people after becoming violent in the hotel lobby.”

“He was reportedly unresponsive while staff waited for police to arrive,” the report continues. “Illegal drug paraphernalia was found on him.”

Dr. Lauren Decker, a forensic pathologist at the medical examiner's office, said Mitchell had abrasions and bruising on his face and his body showed signs of “restriction asphyxia,” a condition that occurs when a person's posture prevents them from breathing.

Mitchell was obese for his size – he was 6 feet tall and weighed over 300 pounds – and had an enlarged heart and cocaine and methamphetamine in his system, all of which may have contributed to his death, she said.

When the report was released, Sulton criticized the coroner's decision to include drug use in the report. “The report confirms what we all saw on the video, that Mr. Mitchell was murdered by Hyatt security officers,” he said.

Milwaukee Police Detective Martin Saavedra testified during the hearing about the video of the incident that was shown to him by Hyatt employees.

The footage showed Mitchell running into the hotel lobby and then into a gift shop. From there, he went to a women's restroom. Turner was then seen entering the same restroom and moments later leading Mitchell out, Saavedra testified.

Turner tried to grab Mitchell, but Mitchell fought back. In the lobby, footage shows the men shoving each other, Saavedra recalled.

The fight between Turner and Mitchell quickly escalated into Turner throwing punches at Mitchell, according to Saavedra. At one point, Mitchell was knocked to the ground, which caught 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 beating Mitchell. “At some point the men got control of him and put him on his stomach,” Saavedra said.

In a Facebook Live video, Mitchell can be heard repeatedly saying “I'm sorry” as he lies on his stomach, Saavedra testified. A bystander recorded the video.

A criminal complaint alleged that Turner struck Mitchell about six times after the employee hit Mitchell on the legs with the broom. According to the complaint, the footage also showed Williamson and Johnson-Carter attempting to help Erickson and Turner push Mitchell onto his stomach while simultaneously holding him down.

In the complaint, investigators said Turner, Erickson and Williamson used varying degrees of force on Mitchell's back, shoulders and arms while they restrained him. Mitchell tried several times to free himself from the men's restraints, but then stopped resisting and showed no signs of life, the complaint says.

Contributors: David Clarey and Drake Bentley, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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