4 hotel employees charged with being party to felony murder in connection with Black man’s death

By Todd Richmond, The Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Prosecutors charged four Milwaukee hotel employees Tuesday with being a party to felony murder in connection with D’Vontaye Mitchell’s death.

Mitchell was Black. The incident has drawn comparisons to the murder of George Floyd, a Black man who died in 2020 after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into his neck for about nine minutes. Floyd’s death sparked a national reckoning on race relations marked by multiple protests around the country.

Charged were hotel security guard Todd Erickson; front desk worker Devin Johnson-Carson; bellhop Herbert Williamson; and security guard Brandon Turner. If convicted, they each would face up to 15 years and nine months in prison.

Reached by telephone Tuesday evening, Erickson referred a request for comment to his attorney, Michael Steinle, who didn’t return voicemail or email messages.

It was unclear if any of the other three employees had attorneys. Online court records didn’t list any for them Tuesday evening. A telephone listing for Williamson had been disconnected, and The Associated Press could not immediately locate phone numbers or other contact information for Johnson-Carson or Turner.

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