Carolyn Bryant Donham, the White woman whose accusation led to the 1955 lynching of Black teen Emmett Till in Mississippi has died in Louisiana.
In August 1955, 14-year-old teen, Emmett Till was beaten and shot to death after he allegedly whistled at Bryant – now Donham – in Money.
Later, her husband, Roy Bryant, and J.W. Milam, abducted Emmett from his bed into the back of a pickup truck, beat him then killed him via a gunshot to the head, and threw his body into the Tallahatchie River.
They were both acquitted of murder by an all-White jury following a trial in which Carolyn Bryant testified that Emmett grabbed and verbally threatened her.
Milam, who died in 1980, and Bryant, who died in 1994, all admitted to the killing in a 1956 interview with Look magazine.
According to Malik Shabazz, from Black Lawyers for Justice, “Carolyn Bryant’s death brings a conclusion to a painful chapter for the Emmett Till family and for Black peoples in America. The tragic part about Bryant’s death was that she was never held accountable for her role in the death of young Emmett Till, who is the martyr for the Civil Rights Movement.”
Donham’s legacy “will be one of dishonesty and injustice,” the statement added.
in 1955, Donham testified that Emmett grabbed her hand and waist and propositioned her, saying he had been with “White women before.” However, years later, when Professor Timothy Tyson raised that trial testimony in a 2008 interview with Donham, he claimed she told him, “That part’s not true.”
In 2007, a Mississippi grand jury declined to indict Donham on any charges.
In 2018, the Department of Justice reopened the case again but closed it in December 2021 saying it could not prove Donham had lied.
During questioning, Donham denied to investigators that she had recanted her testimony.
A Leflore County, Mississippi, grand jury, in August 2022 also did not indict Donham on charges of kidnapping and manslaughter, saying there was insufficient evidence.
“After hearing every aspect of the investigation and evidence collected regarding Donham’s involvement, the Grand Jury returned a ‘No Bill’ to the charges of both Kidnapping and Manslaughter,” a statement from District Attorney Dewayne Richardson read. “The murder of Emmett Till remains an unforgettable tragedy in this country and the thoughts and prayers of this nation continue to be with the family of Emmett Till.”
The Rev. Wheeler Parker Jr., Emmett’s cousin and the last living witness to the abduction, said on Donham’s death; “Our hearts go out to the family of Carolyn Bryant Donham. As a person of faith for more than 60 years, I recognize that any loss of life is tragic and don’t have any ill will or animosity toward her.”
“Even though no one now will be held to account for the death of my cousin and best friend, it is up to all of us to be accountable to the challenges we still face in overcoming racial injustice.”