It may be almost 70 years since Emmett Till’s murder but his family is still looking for justice.
The Guardian reports that a cousin of Till has filed a lawsuit demanding that the Leflore County (MS) sheriff present an arrest warrant to Carolyn Bryant Donham for her role in the 1955 murder.
The lawsuit, against Sheriff Rick Banks, was filed by Patricia Sterling after the family found an arrest warrant in the basement of a Mississippi
courthouse. Sterling’s lawyer, Trent Walker, said the family isn’t giving up. ““We are using the available means at our disposal to try to achieve justice on behalf of the Till family,” Walker, said.The fight for Donham’s arrest has been going on for years. In March 2022, BLACKED ENTERPRISE reported that the Till family called on the Department of Justice to reopen the case. They are hoping to bring Donham
to justice before it’s too late. According to the Daily Mail, the 88-year-old is living in Kentucky and is battling cancer.The lawsuit claims Donham is responsible for the murder. “It was Carolyn Bryant’s lie that sent Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam into a rage, which resulted in the mutilation of Emmett Till’s body into a [sic] unrecognizable condition,” the lawsuit states as reported by CNN. “The Leflore County Sheriff is complicit in the trio’s escape from justice even though both Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam admitted to the crime.”
Emmett Till was murdered after being accused of whistling at Donham while visiting family in Mississippi. Bryant’s husband, Roy Bryant, and J.W. Milam kidnapped the 14-year-old from his bed, put him in the back of a pickup truck and drove off. They then beat him severely and shot him in the head before throwing his body into the Tallahatchie River.
Both men, who were white, were both acquitted of murder by an all-white jury after Bryant testified that Emmett grabbed and verbally threatened her. Months later, Bryant and Milam admitted to Till’s killing in a magazine interview.
Regardless of the past, the lawsuit calls for action regarding Donham’s involvement. “To this day, the warrant issued for Carolyn Bryant remains unserved,” the lawsuit said. “Carolyn Bryant’s whereabouts are known. This action is being brought in order to compel the Lelfore County Sheriff to serve the warrant upon Carolyn Bryant.”