The Woman Who Accused Emmett Till Has Died, Ending An Aspect Of The 70-Year Tragedy

Woman Who Accused Emmett Till of Sexual Advances Dies at 88

The woman who accused 14-year-old Emmett Till of making sexual advances toward her in a Mississippi grocery store in 1955 has died at the age of 88. Carolyn Bryant Donham passed away on Tuesday while receiving hospice care in Westlake, Louisiana, according to The New York Times.

The Tragic Story of Emmett Till

Emmett Till was brutally beaten and shot in the head by J.W. Milam and Roy Bryant, Donham’s then-husband, after she made the allegations against him. They were arrested but acquitted by an all-white male jury in Mississippi in an era before the Civil Rights movement, so no one has been held accountable.

In 2017, federal investigators began looking into whether Till’s accuser admitted to lying about what, if anything, actually happened between her and Till. That investigation ended in December 2021, with the U.S. Department of Justice apparently failing to find evidence that Donham had lied.

Controversy Surrounding Donham’s Accusations

Author Timothy B. Tyson reported that Donham recanted her story and said she lied about the incident. But Donham denied lying when she spoke to federal investigators. Tyson stood by his reporting, telling NBC that Donham was not a reliable witness.

The DOJ said it found no evidence Donham had ever lied, closing the case without any arrests. In its case document, the DOJ said it could not prosecute Donham or anyone else because it had “not uncovered any new evidence that would change its conclusion from its 2004 investigation that it was not able to bring federal charges against [Donham] in connection with Till’s abduction and murder.”

Family Continues to Seek Justice

Till’s relatives continued to insist Donham be prosecuted for her role in his lynching, and an attorney for the family told the Associated Press in April 2022 that since a 1955 kidnapping warrant for Donham’s arrest apparently was never dismissed, it could still be used to arrest Donham. However, a grand jury declined to indict Donham in August 2022.

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.

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