Grand jury declines to indict woman whose accusation led to Emmett Till lynching – By N’dea Yancey-Bragg (USA Today) / Aug 9, 2022
A Mississippi grand jury declined to indict the white woman whose accusation led to the kidnapping and death of Emmett Till in 1955, making it unlikely she will ever be prosecuted for her role in the lynching that fueled the civil rights movement.
A grand jury in Leflore County listened to more than seven hours of testimony from investigators and witnesses last week before determining there was insufficient evidence to indict Carolyn Bryant Donham, 87, on charges of kidnapping and manslaughter. It’s the second time a grand jury has heard evidence against Donham, according to a news release from W. Dewayne Richardson, the county district attorney.
The Rev. Wheeler Parker, Till’s cousin, called the outcome “unfortunate, but predictable.”
“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,” Parker said in a statement.
