Former Milwaukee hotel employees accused of holding man to death plead not guilty

MADISON, Wis. — Four former Milwaukee hotel employees accused of holding a man to death pleaded not guilty Thursday to murder charges.

Former Hyatt Hotel employees — security guards Todd Erickson and Brandon Turner, bellman Herbert Williamson and front desk worker Devin Johnson-Carson — were each charged with one count of accessory to criminal homicide earlier this month in connection with D’Vontaye’s death Mitchell. .

Online court records show all four entered not guilty pleas during court proceedings Thursday morning in Milwaukee.

Asked to comment on his client’s request, Johnson-Carson’s attorney, Craig Johnson, referred a reporter to a statement he gave following the former workers’ preliminary hearings Monday. Johnson said at the time that Johnson-Carson was trying to protect hotel guests from Mitchell and that he planned to dispute any connection between Mitchell’s death and Johnson-Carson’s actions.

Attorneys for Erickson and Turner did not immediately respond to email and voice messages seeking comment on the claims. Contact information for Williamson’s attorney, Theodore O’Reilly, could not be found.

Mitchell died on June 30. According to court documents, surveillance and bystander video shows Mitchell running into the lobby of the Hyatt and entering the women’s bathroom. Two women later told investigators that Mitchell tried to lock them in the bathroom.

Turner and a hotel guest fought with Mitchell and eventually dragged him out of the lobby and into a hotel driveway. Erickson, Williamson and Johnson-Carson joined Turner in restraining Mitchell for eight to nine minutes, according to court documents. By the time emergency responders arrived, Mitchell was motionless.

The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office determined that Mitchell was morbidly obese and suffered from heart disease. He also had cocaine and methamphetamine in his system. The office determined she suffocated and ruled the manner of death a homicide.

Attorneys for Mitchell’s family have compared his death to the killing of George Floyd, a black man who died in 2020 after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for about nine minutes. Mitchell was also black. Court records identify Erickson as white and Turner, Williamson and Johnson-Carson as black.

The four workers told investigators that Mitchell was strong and tried to bite Erickson, but they did not mean to harm him.

Aimbridge Hospitality, the company that manages the hotel, laid off the four workers in July.