Fourth defendant in the case of the murder in Milwaukee recognized as guilty

• Erikson recognized as guilty in the case of the murder of Mitchell.
• The death of Mitchell is compared to the case of George Floyd.
• All four hotel employees were fired after the incident.

Milwaukee, USA — The last of four hotel employees in Milwaukee, accused of the murder of a man by suffocating him to the ground, was recognized guilty in connection with the crime on a lesser charge. Former Hyatt security guard, Todd Erikson, committed this in Milwaukee County on Thursday, along with the online data from the court.

Erikson was supposed to appear before the court on September 11 and could receive up to 15 years in prison on charges on September 3. His attorney, Kerri Kleggor, has not yet responded to the inquiry.

The recognition of Erikson shifts the case, similar to the case of George Floyd, to the verdict. According to investigators, in June 2024 Mitchell entered the lobby of Hyatt and fell into the women’s bathroom. Two women reported to detectives that Mitchell was trying to lock them in the bathroom.

Security guard Brendon Turner pulled Mitchell out of the bathroom, and together with the guest, dragged him from the lobby to the hotel’s outside area. Turner, Erikson, Herbert Williams, and employee receptionist Devin Johnson-Carson continued to fight with Mitchell, first pinning him to the ground and covering him with their bodies, along with the light.

Video from the surveillance camera shows how Johnson-Carson holds Mitchell’s legs, while Erikson, Turner, and Williams hold his upper body. They held him in a suffocating position for eight to nine minutes. When the medics arrived, Mitchell was already not breathing.

The coroner revealed that Mitchell suffered from asphyxiation, cardiac arrest, and had cocaine and methamphetamine in his blood. The coroner concluded that he died, and considered his death a murder.

Attorneys for Mitchell’s family compared his death to the death of Floyd, a Black man, who died in 2020 after a Minneapolis police officer pinned him down for eight to nine minutes. Floyd’s death sparked a national discourse on racial relations.

Mitchell was Black. Court records identify Erikson as White, while Turner, Williams, and Johnson-Carson as Black.

Four employees stated that Mitchell was strong and tried to attack Erikson, but they had no intention to harm him. The company Ambridge Hospitality, which manages Hyatt, fired all four in July 2024.

Turner, Williams, and Johnson-Carson are also charged with a lesser crime along with Erikson. Turner recognized the charge in February this year. Williams and Johnson-Carson pleaded guilty to lesser charges in criminal violation this month. All three are to appear before the court on March 3, on the same day as Erikson.

Tags: USA/Crime