Grand Jury Declines to Indict the White Woman Whose Accusations Sparked the Lynching of Emmett Till

Prosecutors said on Tuesday that despite information about an unfulfilled arrest warrant and a recently published memoir, a grand jury in Mississippi decided not to indict the woman whose accusation led to the lynching of Black teenager Emmett Till nearly 70 years ago.

According to Leflore County District Attorney Dewayne Richardson, a grand jury in the county had reviewed the evidence and testimony regarding Carolyn Bryant Donham’s role in the kidnapping and death of Till.

Richardson said the grand jury decided there wasn’t enough evidence to indict Donham after hearing more than seven hours of testimony from investigators and witnesses. Both kidnapping and manslaughter charges were taken into consideration.

It seems increasingly doubtful that Donham will ever face charges for her part in the events that resulted in Till’s death once it was revealed that the grand jury had decided against charging her.

In June earlier this year, the expired arrest warrant for Donham, her ex-husband Roy Bryant, and brother-in-law J.W. Milam were found in the basement of the Leflore County Courthouse.