New video released shows moments leading up to man’s death outside Hyatt Regency (2024)

MILWAUKEE, Wis. — The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office has ruled D'Vontaye Mitchell's death as a homicide and listed the immediate cause of death as "restraint asphyxia and toxic effects of cocaine and methamphetamine."

Mitchell died outside the Hyatt Regency downtown on June 30.

Police said Mitchell caused a disturbance. He then was pinned down by four hotel workers and became unresponsive. So far, no one has been arrested or charged.

On July 16, the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Officesaid it was waiting for results of the autopsy before it issued any charges in the case.

Watch: D'Vontaye Mitchell's family calls for charges, justice in his death:

D'Vontaye Mitchell's family calls for charges and justice

The Medical Examiner's report released Friday says that Mitchell was "restrained in prone position by multiple individuals" after drug use.

All four of the individuals involved "denied restraining him by the neck or placing him in any choke hold," the Medical Examiner's investigation narrative says.

TMJ4's Jenna Rae spoke with Will Sulton Friday, one of the family's attorneys. He said the family was made aware of the autopsy results Thursday night, however, when he called the M.E.'s office, they wouldn't release the results to him.

Watch: New video released shows moments leading up to man’s death outside Hyatt Regency

New video released shows moments leading up to man’s death

Sulton said he had to file a subpoena, which eventually resulted in the M.E. making the autopsy results public.

A spokesperson for the M.E.'s office said that the autopsy results weren't made public immediately because the Milwaukee Police Department issued a "non-disclosure" on the case. That means minimal information can be made public.

On July 5th, a spokesperson for MPD told Rae that Mitchell's case had been handed over to the district attorney's office. It was then, MPD also said it referred four individual sets homicide charges to the DA.

In addition to the autopsy results, Sulton said he also received additional Hyatt Regency surveillance footage from the M.E.'s office.

Rae was the first reporter to see this never-before-seen surveillance video.

TMJ4 wasn't allowed to record the video, but our team saw Mitchell being dragged out of the hotel by a guest. We saw a Hyatt employee hit Mitchell with a broom and another Hyatt employee punch him several times while he was already on the ground being dragged by the guest.

Watch: Edited Hyatt Regency surveillance footage

Edited Hyatt Regency surveillance footage

In the several videos we were shown, it was clear Mitchell was not fighting back. In several instances, he even had his hands up and looked like he was trying to back away.

Video shows Mitchell inside the hotel for just a few minutes. Most of the video shows Mitchell trying to get away from Hyatt employees or Hyatt employees and guests beating, hitting, or dragging Mitchell.

Rae did speak with Mitchell's family on the phone, however they said to reach out to their attorney, Ben Crump.

Crump's team of attorney's sent us the following statement:

“The medical examiner’s report concluded that Mitchell died from restraint asphyxia and ruled his death a homicide. These findings demand immediate charges against the officers involved. Mitchell was in the midst of a mental health crisis and, instead of abiding by their duty to protect and serve, the security officers and other Hyatt staff used excessive force that inflicted injury resulting in death. We will not rest until we achieve justice for Mitchell and his grieving family.”

In the weeks since Mitchell's death on June 30, Mitchell's family and activists have continually pressed for answers and for those responsible for Mitchell's death to be charged.

"It's frustrating, it's infuriating,” Mitchell’s wife, Deasia Harmon said.

Watch: Community gathers for funeral of D'Vontaye Mitchell:

Community gathers for funeral of D'Vontaye Mitchell

Harmon wants video from the incident to be released to the public.

"Why does it have to take so long?” Harmon asked. “You know who did it. You know what they did. You seen it. Why are they not releasing the video from inside of this building?"

Mitchell’s cousin, Samantha Mitchell, said protesters will not stop gathering by the Hyatt until the video of the incident is released and arrests are made.

Another rally is planned for Monday morning.

"We will be out here for however long it takes until we get those charges, until we get justice,” she explained.

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