Feds reopen brutal 63-year-old slaying of black teen Emmett Till
- 6 years ago
MONEY, MISSISSIPPI — The U.S. Justice Department has reopened the 63-year-old killing of a black teen, whose violent death helped build momentum for the civil rights movement.
CNN reports that in 1955, while visiting family in Money, Mississippi, Emmett Till was falsely accused of making advances on a white woman named Carolyn Donham.
Four days later, Donham's husband Roy Bryant and his half brother J.W. Milam kidnapped the 14-year-old. He was beaten viciously and then shot in the head.
The boy's mutilated body was found in the Tallahatchie River, weighed down by a 75-pound cotton gin fan that had been strapped to his neck with barbed wire.
Despite being identified by eyewitnesses and admitting to the kidnapping, Bryant and Milam were acquitted by an all-white jury. A year later, the pair confessed to the murder during a magazine interview, but weren't retried.
Renewed interest in the case was supposedly sparked by the discovery of new information, though what is remains unspecified.
Some believe it may have to do with the release of a book on the murder, in which Donham admits to lying about Till grabbing and making vulgar remarks to her.
But with the murderers long dead, who will face the consequences? Even if Donham were to be charged for lying about her testimony, justice has already been denied.
CNN reports that in 1955, while visiting family in Money, Mississippi, Emmett Till was falsely accused of making advances on a white woman named Carolyn Donham.
Four days later, Donham's husband Roy Bryant and his half brother J.W. Milam kidnapped the 14-year-old. He was beaten viciously and then shot in the head.
The boy's mutilated body was found in the Tallahatchie River, weighed down by a 75-pound cotton gin fan that had been strapped to his neck with barbed wire.
Despite being identified by eyewitnesses and admitting to the kidnapping, Bryant and Milam were acquitted by an all-white jury. A year later, the pair confessed to the murder during a magazine interview, but weren't retried.
Renewed interest in the case was supposedly sparked by the discovery of new information, though what is remains unspecified.
Some believe it may have to do with the release of a book on the murder, in which Donham admits to lying about Till grabbing and making vulgar remarks to her.
But with the murderers long dead, who will face the consequences? Even if Donham were to be charged for lying about her testimony, justice has already been denied.