Emmett Till: Mississippi jury declines to indict accuser
- Published
Emmett Till's death was a key galvanising moment in the US civil rights movement
A jury in Mississippi has declined to bring charges against the woman whose accusation led to the 1955 lynching of Emmett Till.
Carolyn Bryant Donham, now 87, had faced potential charges of kidnapping and manslaughter of the black boy.
But jurors said there was insufficient evidence to indict her. It now looks unlikely she will ever be prosecuted over the 14-year-old's murder.
The killing of Till galvanised the US civil rights movement.
Local District Attorney W Dewayne Richardson said in a statement that a grand jury in rural Leflore County last week heard seven hours of testimony from investigators and witnesses.
But the jurors had determined there was not enough proof to indict Ms Donham.
Till's cousin, Reverend Wheeler Parker Jr, condemned the jury's decision as "unfortunate but predictable" in a statement to CBS News, the BBC's US partner.
The Chicago boy was visiting family when he entered the store in Money, Mississippi, where Ms Donham, then 21, worked.
Ms Donham, who is white, accused him of making improper advances and harassing her while she was alone in the shop.
Her husband and brother-in-law kidnapped the boy at gunpoint, tortured him and tossed his battered body into a river.
At Till's funeral, his mother Mamie Till Mobley insisted on an open coffin so everyone could see what had been done to him. Published photos of his brutalised remains shocked the nation.
The two kidnappers - Roy Bryant and JW Milam - were arrested over the murder, but acquitted by an all-white jury.
They later admitted to the killing in a magazine interview, but could not be re-tried under US law. Both are now dead.
Till's great-uncle, Moses Wright, from whose home Till was abducted, testified at the trial that a voice "lighter" than a man's had identified the boy from inside a pickup truck.
According to evidence in FBI files, Ms Donham had told her husband earlier that same night that at least two other black men were not Till.
Carolyn Bryant Donham (right) with husband Roy Bryant and JW Milam (left) with his wife celebrate their acquittal
Ms Donham was not taken into custody over the events that led to the lynching.
But in June, a group searching the basement of the local county courthouse discovered an unserved arrest warrant charging Bryant, Milam and Ms Donham with Till's abduction.
Though the warrant was made public at the time, the then-sheriff told reporters he did not want to "bother" a mother with two young children at home.
In an unpublished memoir obtained last month by the Associated Press, Ms Donham wrote that she did not know what would happen to Till when she made her accusation.
She added that she had denied Till was the boy who had allegedly harassed her when the men brought him to her for identification, and said it was Till who identified himself to the men.
Last year, the US government closed its own inquiry into whether Ms Donham could face charges in the case.
- Published23 July 2013
- Published7 December 2021
