Carolyn Bryant Donham, whose accusations led to murder of Emmett Till, dies at 88

By CNN Newsource

Published April 27, 2023 10:55 AM

(ABC NEWS) -- Carolyn Bryant Donham, who accused 14-year-old Emmett Till of whistling at her and making sexual advances, leading to Till's kidnapping and lynching, has died, according to the Calcasieu Parish Coroner’s Office in Louisiana.

She was 88 years old.

PHOTO: (Mrs. Carolyn Bryant sits with her husband Roy, in court where Roy and his half brother, J.W. Milam, are on trial for the "wolf whistle" kidnap murder of Emmett Louis Till, in Sumner, Mississippi, Sept. 22, 1955. — Mrs. Carolyn Bryant sits with her husband Roy, in court where Roy and his half brother, J.W. Milam, are on trial for the "wolf whistle" kidnap murder of Emmett Louis Till, in Sumner, Mississippi, Sept. 22, 1955.Bettmann Archive/Getty Images

Bryant's then-husband, Roy Bryant, and his half-brother, J.W. Milam, were charged with Till's gruesome 1955 murder in Mississippi. The two men were acquitted by an all-white jury and later confessed to the killing in a paid magazine interview.MORE: Arrest warrant in Emmett Till case found in Mississippi court basement after 67 years

A grand jury in Leflore County, Mississippi, declined to indict Bryant Donham on charges of kidnapping and manslaughter in connection with Till's death in 2022.

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