Emmett Till’s Family Seeks Arrest After 1955 Warrant Found

[Cicada 5]

A search group comprised of Emmett Till Legacy Foundation members found an unserved warrant charging Carolyn Bryant Donham — identified as “Mrs. Roy Bryant” in the 1955 kidnapping of the Mississippi teen. The Associated Press reports Leflore County Circuit Clerk Elmus Stockstill said the group discovered the warrant last week inside a file folder that had been placed in a box. There has been an ongoing search for the warrant.


“They narrowed it down between the ’50s and ’60s and got lucky,” said Stockstill, who certified the warrant as genuine.


Two members of Till’s relatives’ cousin Deborah Watts, head of the foundation, and her daughter, Teri Watts, were a part of the Legacy foundation collective in the search party. Upon the discovery, the family has renewed calls for Donham to be arrested.

“Serve it and charge her,” Teri Watts told the AP in an interview. Watts also states that the Till family believes the newly discovered warrant accusing Donham of kidnapping should be considered new evidence.

A now 80-year-old Donham said to be living in North Carolina, has made public comments about the new prosecution claims. The Associated Press notes that District Attorney Dewayne Richardson’s office previously cited that they would prosecute the case. They did not offer any comments about the discovery of the 1955 warrant, but noted the Justice Department’s determination in December 2021 when they closed the investigation.

Emmett Till’s Family Seeks Arrest After 1955 Warrant Found | The Root

A search group comprised of Till's family members found the warrant charging Carolyn Bryant Donham of kidnapping

www.theroot.com

 

[Xprimentyl]

The story of Emmett Till is the one of the most disgusting stories of relatively recent history, and it never fails to infuriate me when I'm reminded of it. My fear is they'll go after this woman after damn-near 70 years, and she'll get off and enrage the black community, or she'll be convicted and enrage an already overtly volatile white supremacists whose agenda has made nothing but headlines recently. This is a lose-lose situation. Best case, she'll die of decrepit age before she's finally arrested and goes to hell to face judgment there where she belongs.

 

[CM156]

Even if arrested, she is unlikely to be convicted. The statute of limitations has long since run on anything except murder. The fact that there was a warrant out for her arrest for kidnapping is unlikely to mean she can be charged with that crime, for the aforementioned reason of statute of limitations. A warrant is not an indictment. The two people who murdered Emmett Till were tried, acquitted (by an all white jury), and have since died as of over 20 years ago. Witnesses to this crime are either dead, or would be relying on nearly 60 year old memories. In short, I doubt you could prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that she committed the crime. I can sympathize with the very real and valid frustration at this gross injustice. But Carolyn Bryant Donham will die a free woman. I'm near certain of it.

And before someone tries to claim that she admitted she lied: No, that's not what happened. A person doing a video interview with her a few years ago claims that she admitted to lying. Of course, she allegedly admitted this when the cameras weren't rolling. And both Donham and her daughter deny this, as far as I'm aware. There's no way it would be admitted into evidence in a criminal trial. It is, quite literally, an out of court statement used to prove the truth of the matter asserted. In other words, hearsay.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Even if arrested, she is unlikely to be convicted. The statute of limitations has long since run on anything except murder. The fact that there was a warrant out for her arrest for kidnapping is unlikely to mean she can be charged with that crime, for the aforementioned reason of statute of limitations. A warrant is not an indictment. The two people who murdered Emmett Till were tried, acquitted (by an all white jury), and have since died as of over 20 years ago. Witnesses to this crime are either dead, or would be relying on nearly 60 year old memories. In short, I doubt you could prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that she committed the crime. I can sympathize with the very real and valid frustration at this gross injustice. But Carolyn Bryant Donham will die a free woman. I'm near certain of it.

And before someone tries to claim that she admitted she lied: No, that's not what happened. A person doing a video interview with her a few years ago claims that she admitted to lying. Of course, she allegedly admitted this when the cameras weren't rolling. And both Donham and her daughter deny this, as far as I'm aware. There's no way it would be admitted into evidence in a criminal trial. It is, quite literally, an out of court statement used to prove the truth of the matter asserted. In other words, hearsay.

Sad truths.