Till relatives seek renewed probe of 1955 lynching

JACKSON, Miss. — Relatives of Emmett Till joined with supporters Friday in asking authorities to reverse their decision to close an investigation of the Black teenager’s 1955 lynching and instead prosecute a white woman at the center of the case from the very beginning.

Authorities have known for decades that Carolyn Bryant Donham, now in her 80s and living in North Carolina, played a key role in Till’s slaying, and they need to act immediately to bring her to justice before time runs out, said Deborah Watts, a cousin of Till.

“Time is not on our side,” Ms. Watts, who lives in Minnesota and heads the Emmett Till Legacy Foundation, said during a news conference that included a saxophone serenade of a civil rights anthem at the Mississippi Capitol.

Relatives presented Mississippi authorities with a petition signed by about 250,000 people seeking a renewed probe of the killing, which came to demonstrate the depth of racial hatred in the South to the world. Other petition drives continue.

Michelle Williams, chief of staff for Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch, cast doubt on the possibility of a renewed investigation. In a statement, she said the Justice Department had worked with a local district attorney’s office in a re-examination that ended in December.

“This is a tragic and horrible crime, but the FBI, which has far greater resources than our office, has investigated this matter twice and determined that there is nothing more to prosecute,” Ms. Williams said.

The Justice Department announced in December it was ending its renewed investigation into the killing of Till, a 14year-old from Chicago who was abducted, tortured and killed after witnesses said he whistled at Ms. Donham, then known as Carolyn Bryant, at a family store where she worked in rural Money, Miss.