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Lawyers discuss new evidence in Hyatt hotel death investigation

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Lawyers for the family of 43-year-old D’vontaye Mitchell announced Wednesday that they had seen new video evidence of the moments leading up to Mitchell’s death. It happened on June 30 when people detained Mitchell outside the Hyatt Regency hotel at the corner of MLK Drive and Kilbourn Avenue. Milwaukee police said Mitchell entered the hotel and was “creating a commotion.” Cellphone video taken by a passerby shows four people holding Mitchell on the ground outside the front door. Two of them were security guards, one was a bellboy and another worked at the front desk, according to attorneys for Mitchell’s family. In the video, Mitchell can be heard screaming “help” and saying “I’m sorry.” A man identified by attorneys as a security guard can be heard saying, “This is what happens when you go to the ladies’ room.” It is the minutes before the cellphone video begins that Mitchell’s family, friends and activists have been demanding answers about for over a week. In a news conference Wednesday, attorneys Ben Crump, B’Ivory Lamar and Will Sulton said family members and Sulton were able to view surveillance video from inside the Hyatt in the district attorney’s office. They said it showed Mitchell being beaten and fearing for his life. “It was outrageous and one of the most disgusting things I’ve seen in 15 years of practicing law,” Sulton said. “You’ll see him being punched, hit, kicked over and over again, saying, ‘I’m sorry, please, I’m leaving now.'” Mitchell’s family members were visibly traumatized Wednesday after watching the video. “They pushed his head down to the concrete. Then they turned his body over and you can see he was bleeding from his head, nose and mouth. They didn’t stop hitting him over and over again,” said DeAsia Harmon, Mitchell’s widow. On Wednesday, attorneys also said the man seen in the cellphone video holding Mitchell’s legs came forward as a witness and signed an affidavit claiming a security guard hit Mitchell with a baton. “He had a similar baton to the one the security guard used to hit D’vontaye,” said attorney Ben Crump, who brought a baton to the news conference. The group is now demanding that the staff members involved be charged with first-degree intentional homicide. Hyatt is also calling for charges in a new statement to WISN 12 News on Wednesday. “We believe the Aimbridge Hospitality employees involved should be fired and charged,” the statement said. Aimbridge Hospitality is the hotel operator. In a statement to WISN 12 News on Wednesday evening, Aimbridge said “several” employees were fired. “After reviewing their actions, their employment has been terminated. We will continue our independent investigation and do everything we can to assist law enforcement in their investigation of this tragic incident,” an Aimbridge Hospitality spokesperson said. The District Attorney’s Office said Wednesday it is now investigating the case as a homicide and is awaiting autopsy results before deciding on charges.

MILWAUKEE —

Lawyers for the family of 43-year-old D’vontaye Mitchell announced Wednesday that they had seen new video evidence of the moments leading to Mitchell’s death.

It happened on June 30, when people detained Mitchell outside the Hyatt Regency hotel at MLK Drive and Kilbourn Avenue. Milwaukee police said Mitchell entered the hotel and was “causing a disturbance.”

A cellphone video taken by a passerby shows four people holding Mitchell on the ground outside the front door. Two of them were security guards, one was a bellboy and another worked at the front desk, according to attorneys for Mitchell’s family.

In the video, Mitchell can be heard screaming “help” and saying “I’m sorry.” A man identified by lawyers as a security guard says, “This is what happens when you go to the ladies’ room.”

It is the minutes before the cell phone video begins that Mitchell’s family, friends and activists have been demanding answers about for over a week.

In a news conference Wednesday, attorneys Ben Crump, B’Ivory Lamar and Will Sulton said family members and Sulton were able to view surveillance video from inside the Hyatt at the prosecutor’s office. They said Mitchell could be seen beaten and in fear of death.

“This was outrageous and one of the most disgusting things I’ve seen in 15 years of practicing law,” Sulton said. “You’ll see him getting punched, hit, kicked over and over again, saying, ‘I’m sorry, please, I’m leaving.'”

Mitchell’s family members were visibly traumatized Wednesday after seeing the video.

“They pushed his head down to the concrete. Then they turned his body over and you could see that he was bleeding from his head, nose and mouth. They hit him over and over and didn’t stop,” said DeAsia Harmon, Mitchell’s widow.

On Wednesday, attorneys also said the man seen in the cellphone video holding Mitchell’s legs testified and signed an affidavit claiming a security guard struck Mitchell with a baton.

“He had a baton similar to the one the security guard used to hit D’vontaye,” said attorney Ben Crump, who brought a baton to the press conference.

The group is now demanding that the employees involved be charged with first-degree intentional homicide.

Hyatt also called for charges in a new statement to WISN 12 News on Wednesday.

“We believe that the Aimbridge Hospitality employees involved should be fired and criminal charges should be filed,” the statement said.

The hotel operator is Aimbridge Hospitality. In a statement to WISN 12 News on Wednesday evening, Aimbridge said that “several” employees had been laid off.

“After reviewing her actions, her employment has been terminated. We will continue our independent investigation and do everything we can to assist law enforcement in their investigation of this tragic incident,” an Aimbridge Hospitality spokesperson said.

The prosecutor’s office said on Wednesday that the case is currently being investigated as a murder case and that they are awaiting the results of the autopsy before deciding on charges.

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