EMMETT TILL’S RELATIVES WANT HIS ACCUSER TO BE PROSECUTED IN HIS 1955 KIDNAPPING
In Mississippi, relatives of Emmett Till, who was abducted and murdered in the year 1955 found an unserved warrant against a White woman, Carolyn Bryant Donham, whose accusations led to his agonizing death. The family demands the accuser be prosecuted.
Priscilla Sterling, Till’s cousin, urged Mississippi Fourth Circuit Court District Attorney W. Dewayne Richardson during a news conference Thursday to issue the warrant for Donham’s arrest, who is still alive – nearly 70 years after the horrifying incident.
Richardson’s office would have the authority to handle the case of Till if the warrant for Donham’s arrest is served.
“I know that over a period of time, 67 years, nothing has been done as far as this warrant,” Sterling told reporters. “The family wants Carolyn Bryant to face justice. And by justice, we want her to at least come here and defend herself.”
Sterling shared her concerns with the reporters that the authorities do not want to open up Till’s case as they’ve told Richardson “not to move forward on the warrant.”
Leflore County, Miss., Sheriff Ricky Banks told the AP that it was the first time he had heard of the warrant.
“I will see if I can get a copy of the warrant and get with the DA and get their opinion on it.” Banks told the AP.
The searchers discovered the arrest warrant in the basement of a courthouse inside a file folder that was placed inside a box in Greenwood, Miss. The warrant, identifying Donham as “Mrs. Roy Bryant,” was dated Aug. 29, 1955, but remained unserved.
Till was 14 years old when he was kidnapped and thrown in the river after being tortured to death. He was accused of whistling at Donham and grabbing her while passing inappropriate comments.
Roy Bryant, Donham’s then-husband, and J.W. Milam, Bryant’s half-brother, were tried for Till’s murder but were quickly acquitted by an all-white jury.
A few months after the gruesome incident, both men accepted that they murdered Till in a magazine interview. Donham, after 50 years, admitted to a historian that the 14 years old, Till had never put his hands on her.
Bryant and Milam both have died, but Donham, who is nearly 80 years old, is still alive and lives in North Carolina. She hasn’t commented publicly on the recent discovery of the arrest warrant.
