Source: Jim Vondruska / Getty
D’vontaye Mitchell’s death has been triggering for a lot of us as it so closely resembles the murder of George Floyd. In this case, instead of one police officer, a group of men that included two security guards pummeled and violently restrained the 43-year-old for close to 9 minutes until he took his final breath. The Hyatt Regency Hotel in Milwaukee employed those men, Todd Erickson, a security guard, Devin Johnson-Carson, a front desk worker, an off-duty security guard named Brandon Turner, and Herbert Williamson.
Below is a video of the beating that these four enacted on Mitchell. Please be advised of the graphic nature of the following content.
According to new reporting by CNN, all four men, Erickson, Johnson-Carson, Turner, and Williamson have been charged with felony murder after weeks of protesting by Mitchell’s family and the community at large. Mitchell’s widow, DeAsia Harmon, spoke to WISN in reaction to the announcement of criminal charges against her husband’s killers.
“It’s a relief. I’m grateful that they’re charging them with something. I’m not satisfied. They should have done it a long time ago,” said DeAsia Harmon. “These people are on camera taking my husband’s life. They should have been charged the moment they did that. When the police came, they were still on top of him. When the police flipped him over, he was gone.”
Herbert Williamson has likely gone against his counsel’s wishes and spoken to local Milwaukee affiliate FOX6 News about his regret for his part in killing Mitchell.
CNN notes that the medical examiner ruled Mitchell’s death a homicide as a result of “restraint asphyxia and toxic effects of cocaine and methamphetamine”. It should also be noted that Mitchell is not accused of any violent behavior or instigation, simply acting erratically. Family attorney Willie Sulton refutes the examiner’s findings saying, “What caused his death was the fact that four people beat him to death on the sidewalk and jumped on top of him.”
Even the detective who wrote the criminal complaint made clear that “…DM does not instigate any violence or display any obviously aggressive or threatening behavior while on the hotel premises.”
Our deepest sympathies go out D’vontaye Mitchell’s loved ones. We can only pray that those responsible for his death are held into account in the most severe way possible.
