Fired Milwaukee Hyatt employees who caused the death of man to be tried for murder
The Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Milwaukee, USA, fired four security guards involved in the death of a person in June this year. D’Vontave Mitchell, a black man, who, despite having his hands up, was dragged to the floor and pinned down on his stomach with his face down, by four security guards outside the hotel. They then proceeded to beat him up ignoring Mitchell’s desperate pleas to stop the blows.
Mitchell, 43, died on 30th June having spent the last few minutes of his life being repeatedly beaten by a security guard with a retractable baton as onlookers failed to intervene. The last words of the father of two included a loud “please stop” and “help me’ as he gasped for breathe six times. When police arrived, Mitchell was found unresponsive and pronounced dead at the scene.
Aimbridge Hospitality, which operates the Hotel, fired the employees involved, hours after Mitchell’s death, calling for them to face criminal charges.
Milwaukee police alleged that Mitchell had caused a disturbance, which apparently led to an altercation with security guards while he was being escorted out. Surveillance footage from the hotel showed Mitchell being confronted by security guards after appearing to run from something and into the women’s bathroom.
A statement issued by Aimbridge Hospitality read “The conduct we saw from several associates on 30 June violated our policies and procedures and does not reflect our values as an organization or the behaviors we expect from our associates. Following review of their actions, their employment has been terminated. We will continue our independent investigation and do everything we can to support law enforcement with their investigation into this tragic incident.”
On 5th July the Milwaukee Police department referred felony murder charges against four individuals in connection with the death of D’Vontave Mitchell. The Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office was reviewing them subsequently, police said in a press release soon after. The police also said in the press release that they also referred an ‘underlying charge of battery’ against the individuals. The names of those employees have not been released.
Meanwhile, Attorney General Lovern wrote on an email that he did not expect a charging decision for several weeks as this is an ongoing investigation.
Nayisha Mitchell, D’Vontaye’s sister, said “Waiting several more weeks for a decision is absurd. There’s no reason why it should take weeks to get an answer from them,” in an interview. “I think that it’s absolutely ridiculous that it’s going to be taking weeks for them to make some type of charge, to make some type of arrest,” she added.
Source: External
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