Death of a Black man pinned down by security guards outside a Milwaukee hotel is ruled a homicide
MILWAUKEE — The death of a black man who pinned to the ground by security guards outside a Milwaukee hotel has been ruled a homicide, an autopsy released Friday found.
D’Vontaye Mitchell suffocated to death on June 30 while being restrained and suffering from the effects of drugs in his system, according to findings by the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office.
The findings state that Mitchell’s proximate cause of death was “asphyxiating restraint and the toxic effects of cocaine and methamphetamine.” The murder ruling upholds the coroner’s office’s preliminary finding last month that Mitchell’s death was a homicide.
The Milwaukee County Prosecutor’s Office previously said it was working with police to await full autopsy results and that the case was being investigated as a homicide.
The Associated Press sent an email and left a phone message for the district attorney’s office on Friday seeking comment on the autopsy report and whether the findings would be considered in making charging decisions.
The autopsy, signed Wednesday by Assistant Coroner Lauren A. Decker, states that Mitchell’s “injuries” occurred while he was “restrained in a prone position by multiple individuals following drug use (cocaine, methamphetamine).”
It also states that Mitchell had the “significant conditions” of hypertensive cardiovascular disease and morbid obesity. A separate demographic report released by the coroner’s office states that Mitchell was 6 feet (1.8 meters) tall and weighed 301 pounds (137 kilograms).
The coroner’s office also released an investigative report Friday saying Mitchell “was held down by four people after becoming aggressive in the hotel lobby.”
“He became unresponsive as staff waited for police to arrive,” the report said.
Mitchell died after being held on his stomach by security guards outside a Hyatt Regency hotel. Police said he entered the hotel, caused a disturbance and fought with guards as they escorted him out.
Mitchell’s family members and their attorneys had previously rated hotel security video provided by the district attorney’s office. They described seeing Mitchell being chased into the hotel by security guards and then dragged outside, where he was beaten.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is part of a team of attorneys representing Mitchell’s family, has said that video footage recorded by a bystander and circulating on social media shows security guards with their knees on Mitchell’s back and neck. Crump has also questioned why Milwaukee authorities have not filed charges in Mitchell’s death.
The families of Crump and Mitchell said in a statement Friday that the autopsy findings and the murder ruling “call for immediate charges against” those involved in Mitchell’s death.
“Mitchell was in the midst of a mental health crisis and instead of upholding their duty to protect and serve, security officers and other Hyatt employees used excessive force resulting in injury and death,” the statement said. “We will not rest until we achieve justice for Mitchell and his grieving family.”
Aimbridge Hospitality, the company that manages the hotel, previously said that several employees involved in Mitchell’s death have been fired.