D’Vontaye Mitchell’s widow remembers husband as ‘beautiful person’ as attorney calls for charges to be filed in his death

CNN

By Zoe Sottile and Rebekah Riess, CNN

(CNN) — DeAsia Harmon’s husband was a “beautiful person” and a “wonderful father,” she told CNN’s Victor Blackwell in an interview Saturday morning.

He was “funny and energetic” and deeply loved his children, Harmon said.

But her husband, D’Vontaye Mitchell, will never see his children again: The 43-year-old died on June 30 after he was pinned down by hotel security guards outside a Hyatt Regency hotel in Milwaukee in an incident partially captured on video.

“I’m angry about it,” Harmon said of her husband’s death. “I’m broken, empty, honestly.”

Police have referred four charges of felony murder in Mitchell’s death to the district attorney’s office, Milwaukee Police told CNN in a statement Friday. A homicide investigation is underway and the full results of Mitchell’s autopsy are pending.

William F. Sulton, an attorney for the Mitchell family, told CNN he is confident that the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s office “will make the right decision” and charge the hotel employees involved.

“I do believe criminal charges will be issued in this case,” Sulton said, adding, “I want to be very clear that this involves more than just four persons.”

“Mr. Mitchell was beaten with a broom by a front desk manager, who you see on camera,” he said. “You see a third security official who could have intervened and stopped this.”

“There were so many opportunities, and at every turn, Hyatt staff attacked him,” Sulton said.

Sulton said that while Wisconsin does have a citizen’s arrest law, it requires observation of an ongoing felony. “There was no crime committed by Mr. Mitchell at all. And in fact, we know that Mr. Mitchell was running away from a security officer who had attacked him, and that he was retreating the entire time,” the attorney said. “And despite Mr. Mitchell trying to retreat, which included leaving the hotel after seeking refuge there, that he was repeatedly beaten to the point in which he was killed.”

Sulton said he met with the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office for several hours Wednesday and two hours Thursday morning to discuss the case.

Aimbridge Hospitality, which operates the downtown hotel, has said that they suspended and then fired the “hotel associates” involved in the incident. It’s unclear how many employees were fired and if they include the security guards seen pinning Mitchell down.

“The conduct we saw from several associates on June 30 violated our policies and procedures, and does not reflect our values as an organization or the behaviors we expect from our associates,” Aimbridge Hospitality said in a Thursday statement about Mitchell’s death.

The case has sparked criticism and accusations of racism, particularly given the parallels between Mitchel’s death and other instances in which Black men have died at the hands of police and other authority figures. May 25 marked the 4-year anniversary of George Floyd’s murder by White police officer Derek Chauvin, igniting widespread protests across the country.

What we know about Mitchell’s death

Many of the circumstances surrounding Mitchell’s death remain unclear, including what led to his encounter with the security guards, how long it took officers to arrive on the scene, and what Mitchell was doing at the hotel.

Police allege Mitchell “caused a disturbance,” prompting security guards to escort him out of the hotel, according to a statement from civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is also representing the Mitchell family.

Security guards and others then pinned Mitchell to the ground. Part of a video posted on social media shows Mitchell grunting and pleading with the guards, repeatedly saying “please” and “I’m sorry.”

One guard, who appears to be White, can be heard saying “stay down” and “stop fighting,” as the others, who appear to be people of color, hold Mitchell down, the video shows. The same guard calls out to witnesses, “This is what happens when you go into the ladies room.”

The district attorney’s office is awaiting the full results of Mitchell’s autopsy, which will help inform the police investigation into his death and allow the office to evaluate what happened before his death “from the perspective of potential criminal liability,” District Attorney John Chisholm said Wednesday in a statement.

Crump, in a statement posted on X last week, said: “It is deeply troubling that we have lost another Black man in an encounter with security personnel, raising serious concerns about the use of force, lack of accountability, and absence of mental health considerations.”

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CNN’s Alisha Ebrahimji contributed to this report.