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Carolyn Bryant Donham, Emmett Till’s Accuser, Passes Away At 88

<p>Nearly 68 years after her accusation resulted in the lynching of <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;dev&period;theshaderoom&period;com&sol;83-year-old-recalls-night-that-emmett-till-was-kidnapped-murdered-he-had-no-idea-what-was-about-to-happen&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener"><strong>Emmett Till<&sol;strong><&sol;a>&comma; <strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;dev&period;theshaderoom&period;com&sol;cousin-of-emmett-till-files-federal-lawsuit-seeking-arrest-of-carolyn-bryant-donham-for-her-role-in-his-1955-murder&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">Carolyn Bryant Donham<&sol;a> <&sol;strong>passed away at 88 years old&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>According to <em><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;mississippitoday&period;org&sol;2023&sol;04&sol;27&sol;carolyn-bryant-donham-emmett-till&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">Mississippi Today<&sol;a><&sol;em>&comma; the news was confirmed by Megan LeBoeuf — chief investigator for the Calcasieu Parish Coroner&&num;8217&semi;s Office&period; She reportedly had cancer and was receiving hospice care when she died&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;">The Update Is Described As A &&num;8220&semi;Wound&&num;8221&semi;&colon; &&num;8220&semi;Justice Was Never Done&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p>In response to this news&comma; Emmett Till&&num;8217&semi;s cousin&comma; Rev&period; Wheeler Parker Jr&period;&comma; reportedly sends condolences to Donham&&num;8217&semi;s family&period; Parker Jr&period; most recently <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;dev&period;theshaderoom&period;com&sol;83-year-old-recalls-night-that-emmett-till-was-kidnapped-murdered-he-had-no-idea-what-was-about-to-happen&sol;&quest;&lowbar;gl&equals;1&ast;1lrw0ca&ast;&lowbar;up&ast;MQ&period;&period;&ast;&lowbar;ga&ast;MjAyODMxODg3MC4xNjgyNjE2Mzgz&ast;&lowbar;ga&lowbar;V2HX8YP3XL&ast;MTY4MjYxNjM4Mi4xLjAuMTY4MjYxNjM4Mi4wLjAuMA&period;&period;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">recounted<&sol;a> the night Till was lynched&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h5 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;">RELATED&colon; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;dev&period;theshaderoom&period;com&sol;83-year-old-recalls-night-that-emmett-till-was-kidnapped-murdered-he-had-no-idea-what-was-about-to-happen&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">83-Year-Old Recalls Night That Emmett Till Was Kidnapped &amp&semi; Murdered&colon; &&num;8216&semi;He Had No Idea What Was About To Happen&&num;8217&semi;<&sol;a><&sol;h5>&NewLine;<p>Although Donham&&num;8217&semi;s accusation of Till accosting her led to his death&comma; Parker Jr&period; says the family doesn&&num;8217&semi;t hold &&num;8220&semi;any ill will&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<blockquote><p>&&num;8220&semi;We don&&num;8217&semi;t have any ill will or animosity toward her&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p><&sol;blockquote>&NewLine;<p>As for Devery Anderson&comma; who wrote a book on how the case influenced the civil rights movement&comma; Carolyn&&num;8217&semi;s death marks the end of the &&num;8220&semi;hope that she could be prosecuted&comma;&&num;8221&semi; <em>Mississippi Today <&sol;em>reports&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<blockquote><p>&&num;8220&semi;It&&num;8217&semi;s going to be a wound&comma; because justice was never done&period; Some others were clinging to hope she might still talk or tell the truth… Now it&&num;8217&semi;s over&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p><&sol;blockquote>&NewLine;<p>Another author&comma; Davis Houck&comma; reportedly expressed similar sentiments&period; Specifically&comma; he notes that Carolyn &&num;8220&semi;was never arrested or indicted for her role&&num;8221&semi; in one of the &&num;8220&semi;most infamous lynchings&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<blockquote><p>&&num;8220&semi;Despite efforts from the Department of Justice&comma; the FBI&comma; local prosecutors in Mississippi and private citizens&period; She was never arrested or indicted for her role in one of the 20th century’s most infamous lynchings&comma; this despite the fact that Leflore County Sheriff George Smith had issued a warrant for her arrest days after Till had gone missing from his great aunt and uncle’s home in Money&comma; Mississippi&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p><&sol;blockquote>&NewLine;<p><amp-instagram data-shortcode&equals;"Cri9ltaL-E-" layout&equals;"responsive" width&equals;"600" height&equals;"600" data-captioned><&sol;amp-instagram><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;">Calls To Prosecute Carolyn Bryant Donham Fell On Deaf Ears<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p>We should also add that there have recently been calls to prosecute Donham for her role in Till&&num;8217&semi;s death&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Just last year&comma; protestors <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;dev&period;theshaderoom&period;com&sol;emmett-till-protesters-storm-a-senior-living-facility-in-search-of-carolyn-bryant-donham&sol;&quest;&lowbar;gl&equals;1&ast;1r9139b&ast;&lowbar;up&ast;MQ&period;&period;&ast;&lowbar;ga&ast;MTcwMTU0OTEzNC4xNjgyNjE1ODUy&ast;&lowbar;ga&lowbar;V2HX8YP3XL&ast;MTY4MjYxNTg1MS4xLjAuMTY4MjYxNTg1MS4wLjAuMA&period;&period;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">stormed<&sol;a> a senior living facility in Raleigh&comma; North Carolina&comma; searching for the woman&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Back in February&comma; Patricia Sterling — another one of Emmett&&num;8217&semi;s cousins — filed a <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;dev&period;theshaderoom&period;com&sol;cousin-of-emmett-till-files-federal-lawsuit-seeking-arrest-of-carolyn-bryant-donham-for-her-role-in-his-1955-murder&sol;&quest;&lowbar;gl&equals;1&ast;1nyqxrd&ast;&lowbar;up&ast;MQ&period;&period;&ast;&lowbar;ga&ast;OTM5NjU4MjE3LjE2ODI2MTYwNzg&period;&ast;&lowbar;ga&lowbar;V2HX8YP3XL&ast;MTY4MjYxNjA3Ny4xLjAuMTY4MjYxNjA3Ny4wLjAuMA&period;&period;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">federal lawsuit<&sol;a> demanding that the Leflore County Sheriff&&num;8217&semi;s Office serve a 1955 arrest warrest against Carolyn&period; This development came about after an unserved warrant was uncovered a year prior&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><amp-instagram data-shortcode&equals;"CokaKVSpLvd" layout&equals;"responsive" width&equals;"600" height&equals;"600" data-captioned><&sol;amp-instagram><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>While Carolyn Bryant Donham was never indicted&comma; her story has now come to an end&period; However&comma; the case remains a harrowing reminder of racial violence in the United States&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine; <div class&equals;"wpra-reactions-wrap wpra-plugin-container" style&equals;"justify-content&colon; center&semi;&semi;"> <div class&equals;"wpra-reactions-container" data-ver&equals;"1&period;3&period;10" data-post&lowbar;id&equals;"120384" data-show&lowbar;count&equals;"true" data-enable&lowbar;share&equals;"onclick" data-behavior&equals;"regular" data-animation&equals;"true" data-share&lowbar;url&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;dev&period;theshaderoom&period;com&sol;carolyn-bryant-donham-emmett-till-accuser-dead&sol;" data-secure&equals;"40a47892f0"> <div class&equals;"wpra-call-to-action" style&equals;"color&colon; 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Nick Fenley

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