MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The third of four former Milwaukee hotel workers accused of killing a man by pinning him to the ground last summer reached a plea deal with prosecutors Thursday.
The Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office initially charged former Hyatt front desk worker Devin Johnson-Carson with being a party to felony murder in connection with D'Vontaye Mitchell's death in June 2024. Online court records indicate Johnson-Carson pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of misdemeanor battery on Thursday.
Johnson-Carson's attorney, Craig Robert Johnson, said in an email to The Associated Press that the battery plea is related to the scuffle the four workers had with Mitchell before taking him to the ground and Johnson-Carson isn't responsible in any way for Mitchell's death.
The district attorney's office declined to comment on the plea deal, saying the case is still ongoing.
Johnson-Carson now faces up to nine months behind bars when he's sentenced Sept. 3. If he had been convicted of the felony murder count he would have faced a maximum sentence of 15 years and nine months.
According to investigators, Mitchell ran into the Hyatt's lobby and entered the women's bathroom. Two women later told them that Mitchell tried to lock them in the bathroom.
Security guard Brandon Turner and a guest scuffled with Mitchell and dragged him out of the lobby onto a hotel driveway. Turner, another security guard named Todd Erickson, bellhop Herbert Williamson and Johnson-Carson struggled with Mitchell before taking him to the ground and piling on him, according to a criminal complaint. Hotel security footage shows Johnson-Carson holding Mitchell's legs while the other three held down his upper body. They pinned him to the ground for eight to nine minutes.
By the time emergency responders arrived Mitchell had stopped breathing. The Milwaukee County medical examiner determined that Mitchell was morbidly obese, suffered from heart disease and had cocaine and methamphetamine in his system. The medical examiner concluded that he suffocated and ruled the manner of death as homicide. Johnson, the defense attorney, said in his email Thursday that Johnson-Carson's actions didn't contribute to Mitchell suffocating.
Attorneys for Mitchell's family have tried to draw parallels between Mitchell's death and the murder 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 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 didn't mean to hurt him. Ambridge Hospitality, the company that manages the hotel, fired all four workers in July.
Erickson is set to stand trial in August on one count of being party to felony murder. Johnson-Carson's plea agreement calls for him to testify against Erickson if he's called as a witness, Johnson, the defense attorney, said in an email to the AP.
Turner and Williamson also agreed to testify as part of plea deals they reached earlier this month.
Turner pleaded guilty to being a party to felony murder. Williamson pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery after he was initially charged with being a party to felony murder. They're both set to be sentenced on Sept. 3.
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This story has been updated to correct that Johnson-Carson would have faced up to 15 years and nine months behind bars if convicted of being a party to felony murder.
FILE - DeAsia Harmon speaks at the funeral for her husband D'Vontaye Mitchell Thursday, July 11, 2024, in Milwaukee. Mitchell died June 30 after an incident at a hotel. (AP Photo/Morry Gash, File)
