Grand Jury Declines To Indict Emmett Till’s Accuser

A Mississippi grand jury has declined to indict the White woman who accused 14-year-old Emmett Till of making advances toward her nearly 70 years ago. Her claims led to the young Black boy’s brutal death.

Last week, the jury heard over 7 hours of testimonies from investigators and witnesses but said there was insufficient evidence to indict Carolyn Bryant Donham on charges of kidnapping and manslaughter, according to a statement from District Attorney Dewayne Richardson.

Family members of Emmett, whose killing in the Jim Crow-era South spurred the civil rights movement in America, said earlier this summer that they had unearthed an unserved arrest warrant for Carolyn, her late husband, and his brother.

The warrant is dated August 29, 1955, and signed by the Leflore County clerk. The image of the warrant shows the current clerk certified the document as authentic on June 21.

A note on the back of the warrant says Carolyn was not arrested because she could not be located at the time, according to the New York Times, which cited filmmaker Keith A. Beauchamp, who was part of the team that discovered the warrant.

A cousin who witnessed Emmett’s abduction, Rev. Wheeler Parker Jr., said Tuesday that state officials assured the family they would fight for justice.

“They kept their promise by bringing this latest piece of evidence before the grand jury. This outcome is unfortunate, but predictable, news,” he said in the statement. “The prosecutor tried his best, and we appreciate his efforts, but he alone cannot undo hundreds of years of anti-Black systems that guaranteed those who killed Emmett Till would go unpunished, to this day.”

Another cousin, Deborah Watts, said the decision not to indict Carolyn was very disappointing but said the family refuses to give up.

“We vow that the pursuit of accountability and Justice For Emmett Till will continue,” she said. “Emmett Till’s death will not be in vain.”

Emmett, who was visiting family in Mississippi, was accused of whistling at 20-year-old Carolyn in the summer of 1955.

Four days later, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam later took Emmett from his bed in the middle of the night, ordered him into the back of a pickup and beat him before shooting him in the head and tossing his body into the Tallahatchie River.

An official trailer of the Emmett Till movie was released two weeks ago. The film will follow the pain and fight his mother Mamie Till had to experience following his murder.