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Family of Emmett Till Call For Arrest of Carolyn Bryant After Unserved 1955 Arrest Warrant Located

Law experts say without new evidence, arresting Carolyn on the warrant is likely impossible

By True Crime WriterPublished 2 years ago 4 min read
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In June 2021, a group from the Emmett Till Legacy Foundation recovered a decades-old warrant calling for the arrest of Mrs. Roy Bryant while searching for case evidence in an abandoned Mississippi courthouse. The warrant, dated August 21, 1955, was published in local newspapers but never served. The Leflore County Sheriff at the time stated he did not want to bother the mother of two children with the warrant.

Photo: BAATAOSMBS

The unserved arrest warrant was located inside a file folder tucked away inside a box of archived files at the courthouse. The family of Emmett Till is calling for the arrest of the now 80-year-old Carolyn Bryant Donham, although hauling her off to jail without new evidence may not be legally possible.

Emmett Down South From Chicago

Emmett arrived in Money, Mississippi from Chicago days earlier, prepared to spend the summer with his family. His mother was hesitant to let Emett travel to the south as she knew things were much different than in Chicago. She warned her son to be careful of white people, but the teen simply could not comprehend how different life was for Blacks in the south compared to life in Chicago.

Photo: Biography

A Walk to the Bryant Grocery Store & Meat Market

Emmitt Till was your average 14-year-old teenager when the evil Carolyn Bryant- undoubtedly aware of the repercussions of her words spoken at a time when Mississippians considered Blacks inferior to whites, forced Blacks to look down when passing a white woman, and forced them to sit on the back of the city bus to keep front seats open for whites - told her husband, Roy, and brother, J.W. that the teenager flirted with her or made whistling noises (reports vary) while visiting the family store in Money, Mississippi.

Emmett and his cousins walked to the Bryant store, laughing and joking along the way. Emmett claimed that he had a white girlfriend in Chicago and his cousins did not believe it. So, they dared Emmett to ask Carolyn out on a date.

Carolyn Tells a Lie

Two days later, Carolyn told her husband, Roy, and brother J.W. Milam that Emmett had whistled at her and made inappropriate remarks. Hearing the news, Roy and J.W. set out to find Emmett. Carolyn helped the men locate Emmett by pointing him out to them. Roy and J.W. kidnapped Emmett from his cousin’s home despite pleas from his family.

The men drove Emmett around in the car for some time, torturing him by gouging out his eyes and inflicting other wounds before shooting him in the head. Emmett had barbed wire wrapped around his neck. The men then tied a cotton gin fan to his ankles to weigh him down and tossed his body into the Tallahatchie River where his cousin found it three days later.

Photo: JET Magazine

Photo: JET Magazine

Men Acquitted of Murder

Roy and J.W. were charged with Emmett’s murder. Carolyn testified at their trials that Emmett came into the store and grabbed and verbally harassed her. “I was scared to death,” Bryant testified.

Roy and J.W. were acquitted of the murder of Emmett Till. Celebration erupted outside the courtroom after the announcement. The crowd of whites cheered and expressed their happiness over the verdict with little regard to Mamie Till and the lost life of her son, Emmett.

Roy and J.W. later admitted to the murder of Emmett Till in several magazines.

D.A. Says Bryant Prosecution Not Possible

District Attorney Dewayne Richardson declined to comment to the AP, but did refer to a December 2021 report from the Justice Department citing prosecution against Bryant is not possible.

Leflore County Sheriff Ricky Banks told the AP this was the first he had heard about a warrant against the now 80- year-old Bryant (now Donham.)

“Nothing was said about a warrant,” Banks told the AP, referring to an investigation a former District Attorney began several years ago.

“I will see if I can get a copy of the warrant and get with the DA and get their opinion on it,” Banks said. If the warrant can still be served, Banks says he would need to speak to law enforcement officers to find out the process."

According to Ronald J. Rychiak, a law professor at The University of Mississippi who spoke to HuffPost, warrants “go stale” due to the passage of time and changing laws. He says a warrant from 1955 would not be enforceable through the court, even if a sheriff decided to serve the document.

He confirmed that any new evidence brought forth in the case could establish probable cause to initiate a new warrant and prosecution in the case.

Resources:

https://vocal.media/fyi/the-murder-of-14-year-old-emmett-till

https://www.wishtv.com/news/inside-story/emmett-tills-cousin-recounts-what-happened-in-bryants-grocery-in-1955/

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/emmitt-till-arrest-warrant-carolyn-bryant-donham_n_62bcb7e5e4b0a21d84220f40?d_id=4133930&ncid_tag=fcbklnkushpmg00000047&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&utm_campaign=us_black_voices&fbclid=IwAR1l6sAtHvyxfN4OSQzwivB0ZZNN3fgOoRbXqnGvhbYmuY2FT_rGpeIkXrU

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/emmett-sex-and-race/

Historical
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About the Creator

True Crime Writer

The best of the worst true crime, history, strange and Unusual stories. Graphic material. Intended for a mature audience ONLY.

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