Family of Emmett Till want woman who made false accusation to be charged with murder

Family members of Emmett Till gathered at the Mississippi State Capitol Friday to call for justice for his murder 66 years later.

“We will bear witness to the hatred that has been embedded in our DNA since the slave ships arrived," said Deborah Watts, a cousin of Till and co-founder of the Emmett Till Legacy Foundation. “We made a promise to Mamie (Till) that we would persist and that’s why we’re here today."

They are asking for murder charges against Carolyn Bryant Donham, whose false accusations led to the 14-year-old’s kidnapping and lynching in the Delta region. She is the only living accomplice in the crime, they said.

Bryant, then 21 in 1955, was working at the grocery store Till went to with family. On their way out, he whistled at her. She told her husband Roy Bryant that Till grabbed her and made advances against her. 

After being beaten, shot and dumped into the Tallahatchie River, Till's face was unrecognizable. His mother Mamie's decision to have an open casket funeral helped launch the civil rights movement.

On Friday, Watts said Donham has not reached out to the Till family to apologize. Watts said she doesn't have hatred for the woman and said charges will help hold her accountable for Till's death.

Supporters of the Till family and its call for justice were also in attendance. They were Reena Evers-Everett, daughter of NAACP organizer Medgar Evers who was assassinated in Jackson; Shelton Chappell, son of Jacksonville woman Johnnie Mae Chappell who was shot by a Klansman; and Wharlest Jackson Jr., son of NAACP organizer Wharlest Jackson who was assassinated in Natchez.

"Where does it stop?" said Everette. "When can we say justice is really being served?"

Read more:'A sacred tradition': Family, community remember the legacies of Medgar and Charles Evers

After the Friday press conference, family and supporters walked across the street to the Walter Sillers government building to deliver a petition with over 250,000 signatures to Attorney General Lynn Fitch. 

The petition also asks for Fitch and Fourth Circuit Court District Attorney Dewayne Richardson, who represents the Delta region, to move Till’s case forward by charging Donham. 

The U.S. Department of Justice opened investigations into Till's murder in 2004 and 2018. The department closed the recent investigation in December and did not announce new charges. 

More:Emmett Till investigation closed by Justice department; no new charges

In the petition, Till's family is asking for an official apology from the federal government, DOJ, the State of Mississippi and local law enforcement.

"We hold the State of Mississippi responsible for bringing justice forward," Watts said to a member of Fitch's office. "You have the opportunity. You just need the will and the courage to make that happen."

Reporter Mina Corpuz can be reached by email at mcorpuz@gannett.com. You can follow her on Twitter @mlcorpuz.