Despite information about an unfilled arrest warrant and the White woman’s unpublished book, a grand jury in Mississippi decided not to charge the person whose allegation led to the hanging of Black teenager Emmett Till almost 70 years ago, a prosecutor said Tuesday.
A Leflore County grand jury last week ruled there wasn’t enough evidence to indict Carolyn Bryant Donham on charges of abduction and manslaughter after hearing more than seven hours of testimony from detectives and witnesses.
Donham, who is now in her 80s, is unlikely to ever be charged for her involvement in the incidents that led to Till’s lynching.
In a statement to CBS News, Reverend Wheeler Parker, Jr., the cousin of Till, criticised the choice as “unfortunate but expected.”
The statement from Parker continued, “The prosecutor did his best, and we applaud his efforts, but he alone cannot change hundreds of years of anti-Black policies that insured those who murdered Emmett Till would walk free, to this day.
The reality remains that Emmett’s captors, torturers, and killers operated openly, and our country’s legal system was and is still structured in such a manner that it was impossible to hold them accountable for their horrible crimes.
Tom Bryant, Donham’s son, did not immediately respond to a call and email requesting comment on Tuesday.
The unexpired arrest warrant accusing Donham, her ex-husband Roy Bryant, and her brother-in-law J.W. Milam of kidnapping Till in 1955 was found in the basement of the Leflore County Courthouse in June.
Donham, who was 21 at the time and is now 87, was never brought into jail while the other men were detained and found not guilty of murder in the following killing of Till.
Donham said that she was uninformed of what would happen to 14-year-old Till, who resided in Chicago and was visiting family in Mississippi when he was kidnapped, slain, and dumped in a river, in an unpublished book that The Associated Press was able to get last month.
She said that when she was working alone at a family shop in Money, Mississippi, he made obscene remarks and grabbed her.
The guys brought Till to her in the middle of the night for identification, according to Donham, who said that she attempted to assist the young man by denying it was him.
She stated that Roy Bryant and Milam kidnapped the 14-year-old at gunpoint from a family home, but the boy recognised himself to the guys.
Days later, Till’s mangled, deformed corpse was discovered weighted down by a huge metal fan in a river. Opening Till’s coffin for his burial in Chicago was a choice made by his mother, Mamie Till Mobley, which highlighted the tragedy of what had occurred and fueled the civil rights movement.
In a statement sent to CBS News on Tuesday, Parker stated, “No family should ever have to experience this anguish for such a long time.
In order to prevent racial violence, enhance our justice system, and treat one another with the decency and respect Mrs. Mobley bestowed upon us all, it is imperative that we continue to remember the horrific murder of Emmett Till and Mamie Mobley.
Last year, the U.S. Justice Department said that it had finished looking into the death of Till.
In 2004, the Justice Department launched an inquiry into Till’s murder after receiving questions about whether charges may be filed against any live individuals.
The FBI collaborated with state investigators to examine if state charges could be filed despite the department’s assertion that the statute of limitations had expired for any possible federal crimes.
A Mississippi grand jury decided without bringing any charges in February 2007, and the Justice Department then declared the matter closed.