4 former Milwaukee hotel workers plead not guilty to felony murder in D’Vontaye Mitchell’s death

By Chris Boyette, CNN

(CNN) — Four former hotel workers pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges of felony murder in connection with the case of D’Vontaye Mitchell, a 43-year-old Black man who died this summer after he was pinned to the ground outside a downtown Milwaukee hotel in an encounter partially captured on video.

Former security manager Todd Alan Erickson, desk agent Devin W. Johnson-Carson, security guard Brandon LaDaniel Turner and bellman Herbert T. Williamson each entered not guilty pleas on Thursday in state court in Wisconsin.

The then-hotel workers’ June 30 encounter with Mitchell unfolded as use of force – particularly against people of color – by police and others in authority roles remains under scrutiny nearly four years after protests flared nationwide following the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.

Erickson was granted bail Thursday after requesting a reduction from $50,000 to $5,000. The judge granted the reduction over the protest of Mitchell’s mother, Brenda L Giles, who made a statement in court asking the judge to deny bond reduction. Bail was also granted for Turner after the judge reduced the amount from $30,000 to $5,000.

Johnson-Carson and Williamson had previously been released from jail on cash bond.

Craig R. Johnson, an attorney for Johnson-Carson, called Mitchell’s death a “tragedy,” but said his client did not commit a crime.

“This situation was a tragedy, but not every tragedy has a villain, and not every tragedy is a crime … Mr. Johnson-Carson was responding to a volatile and potentially dangerous situation that could have threatened the safety of hotel staff and guests,” the attorney said Thursday. “His actions were not criminal and did not contribute to the death of Mr. Mitchell.”

CNN has reached out attorneys for Erickson, Turner and Williamson for comment.

All four defendants are due back in court on October 15. If convicted, they could be sentenced to up to 15 years and nine months in prison.

While the four defendants tackled Mitchell to the ground outside the hotel, one of them struck Mitchell multiple times; another hit him once; and another kicked him in the torso, the charging documents state.

Mitchell died from “restraint asphyxia and toxic effects of cocaine and methamphetamine,” and the manner of death is homicide, according to the autopsy report.

At a preliminary hearing on Monday, prosecutors called Dr. Lauren Decker, a forensic pathologist from the medical examiner’s office as a witness to go over the findings of Mitchell’s autopsy.

Attorneys for the workers questioned whether obesity and drug use could have caused his death, regardless of the restraint.

“I can’t extrapolate to other situations,” Decker said. “In this case, he not only was held by multiple individuals, but also was in this position.”

Milwaukee Police Det. Martin Saavedra was also called to the stand Monday. The detective described the altercation between Mitchell and the defendants, as seen on hotel security video.

All four workers have been fired by Aimbridge Hospitality, which operates the Hyatt Regency hotel, according to a source familiar with the situation.

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