D'Vontaye Mitchell death: Milwaukee man pleads guilty to battery
D'Vontaye Mitchell; Herbert Williamson
MILWAUKEE - A Milwaukee man, one of four charged, pleaded guilty on Thursday to misdemeanor battery in connection to the death of D'Vontaye Mitchell outside a Milwaukee hotel.
In Court:
Court records show 53-year-old Herbert Williamson, who was originally charged with felony murder, is the second man to plead guilty in the case. Earlier this month, Brandon Turner pleaded guilty to felony murder.
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Williamson and Turner – along with 50-year-old Todd Erickson and 23-year-old Devin Johnson-Carson – were each originally charged with the same count: felony murder.
What's next:
Williamson and Turner are scheduled to be sentenced in September. Later this month, Devin Johnson-Carson is scheduled for plea hearings. Erickson is scheduled to go to trial later this year.
Hyatt Regency hotel, Milwaukee
Case details
Dig deeper:
Erickson and Turner worked as Hyatt Regency security guards, while Johnson-Carson worked the front desk and Williamson worked as a bellhop. Aimbridge Hospitality, the company that manages the hotel, fired the four workers in July 2024.
Mitchell died on June 30, 2024. According to a criminal complaint, surveillance and bystander videos showed Mitchell run into the downtown hotel's lobby that afternoon and enter a women's bathroom. Two women later told investigators that Mitchell tried to lock them in the bathroom.
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Turner and a hotel guest dragged Mitchell out of the building and into the hotel driveway, the complaint said. Turner, Erickson, Williamson and Johnson-Carson pinned Mitchell down for eight to nine minutes as Mitchell pleaded for them to stop and complained about not being able to breathe.
Williamson told investigators that he put his knee on Mitchell’s back, adding that Mitchell was strong, wouldn’t calm down and tried to bite Erickson.
Turner told investigators he thought Mitchell was on drugs, Erickson told them that he didn't do anything to intentionally hurt or kill Mitchell, and Johnson-Carson told them none of the hotel employees thought Mitchell had stopped breathing, according to the complaint. Johnson-Carson added that he told Williamson at one point to stop applying pressure and Williamson stopped.
Hyatt Regency hotel surveillance video related to death of D'Vontaye Mitchell
By the time police and emergency responders arrived, Mitchell had stopped moving, the complaint said.
The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office determined that Mitchell was morbidly obese and suffered from heart disease, according to the complaint, and had cocaine and methamphetamine in his system.
After watching video of the incident, Assistant Medical Examiner Lauren Decker determined that Mitchell suffered "restraint asphyxia" from the workers holding down his legs, arms, back and head. Essentially, they prevented Mitchell from breathing.
The Source: Information in this report is from the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office and Wisconsin Circuit Court. The Associated Press contributed.