Thirty-seven days after D’Vontaye Mitchell died outside a downtown Milwaukee Hyatt hotel, prosecutors charged the four men seen on video pinning him face down on the sidewalk.Todd Erickson, a security guard, Devin Johnson-Carson, a front desk worker, Brandon Turner, a security guard who was off-duty and Herbert Williamson, the bellman, are each facing felony murder charges.”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.”Mitchell’s loved ones, including Harmon, who was married to Mitchell and is the mother of his daughter, and his siblings all breathed a sigh of relief when the charges came down Tuesday. “Well, just a small exhale,” said Nayisha Mitchell, Mitchell’s sister. “This is just a small victory. You know, we got the four charges, but now we need to make sure those four charges stick. You know, we need to make sure that these people get convicted.”WISN 12 News reporter Kendall Keys asked Nayisha what the past 37 days had been like.”It’s been hell. It’s been hell for for me and my family,” Nayisha said. In the days and weeks after Mitchell’s death, his loved ones kept pressure on the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office, protesting and marching, demanding charges.”At least today we can say that the obvious has happened. Murder charges filed against murderers on camera,” Attorney William Sulton said. “We heard from the district attorney’s office frequently that they were waiting on this complete autopsy report. Sitting here today, do you think it was necessary for them to wait on that full report?” Keys asked Sulton.”No, no, it’s not. It’s not even close to necessary,” said Sulton. “Most crimes are not committed on video. So here we had one that’s on video. They could have absolutely charged it on June 30th.”Local attorney William Sulton is working with high-profile civil rights attorney Ben Crump. Crump also represented George Floyd’s family and drew similarities between Floyd’s death and Mitchell’s. Crump credited the pressure from the public for the eventual charging decision.”We are very thankful to all the community activists and supporters standing with the family, not letting this tragic killing be swept under the rug,” Crump said. Nayisha said the family will continue calling for justice for Mitchell.”We’ll rest later. We gonna keep on, keep on pushing. We’re gonna keep on fighting until we get the justice that my brother deserves,” Nayisha said. Sulton said the family plans to file civil litigation against Aimbridge Hospitality, the group that manages Hyatt. He said they expect to file that lawsuit in the coming weeks, demanding the hotel compensate Mitchell’s family.
Thirty-seven days after D’Vontaye Mitchell died outside a downtown Milwaukee Hyatt hotel, prosecutors charged the four men seen on video pinning him face down on the sidewalk.
Todd Erickson, a security guard, Devin Johnson-Carson, a front desk worker, Brandon Turner, a security guard who was off-duty and Herbert Williamson, the bellman, are each facing felony murder charges.
“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.”
Mitchell’s loved ones, including Harmon, who was married to Mitchell and is the mother of his daughter, and his siblings all breathed a sigh of relief when the charges came down Tuesday.
“Well, just a small exhale,” said Nayisha Mitchell, Mitchell’s sister. “This is just a small victory. You know, we got the four charges, but now we need to make sure those four charges stick. You know, we need to make sure that these people get convicted.”
WISN 12 News reporter Kendall Keys asked Nayisha what the past 37 days had been like.
“It’s been hell. It’s been hell for for me and my family,” Nayisha said.
In the days and weeks after Mitchell’s death, his loved ones kept pressure on the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office, protesting and marching, demanding charges.
“At least today we can say that the obvious has happened. Murder charges filed against murderers on camera,” Attorney William Sulton said.
“We heard from the district attorney’s office frequently that they were waiting on this complete autopsy report. Sitting here today, do you think it was necessary for them to wait on that full report?” Keys asked Sulton.
“No, no, it’s not. It’s not even close to necessary,” said Sulton. “Most crimes are not committed on video. So here we had one that’s on video. They could have absolutely charged it on June 30th.”
Local attorney William Sulton is working with high-profile civil rights attorney Ben Crump. Crump also represented George Floyd’s family and drew similarities between Floyd’s death and Mitchell’s.
Crump credited the pressure from the public for the eventual charging decision.
“We are very thankful to all the community activists and supporters standing with the family, not letting this tragic killing be swept under the rug,” Crump said.
Nayisha said the family will continue calling for justice for Mitchell.
“We’ll rest later. We gonna keep on, keep on pushing. We’re gonna keep on fighting until we get the justice that my brother deserves,” Nayisha said.
Sulton said the family plans to file civil litigation against Aimbridge Hospitality, the group that manages Hyatt. He said they expect to file that lawsuit in the coming weeks, demanding the hotel compensate Mitchell’s family.
