What happened to Carolyn Bryant?

Carolyn Bryant, the woman who accused young black boy Emmett Till, has died in hospice care at the age of 88. She is best known for her false accusation case which happened in 1955.

In 1955, Till was also accused by Carolyn of making inappropriate comments and grabbing her at the shop. A few days later, he was kidnapped at gunpoint by two white men identified as Roy Bryant (Carolyn’s husband) and JW Milam (Carolyn’s brother-in-law) from his home.

He was severely beaten and dragged to the bank of a river and shot in the head. Till’s body was tied in barbed wires to a heavy metal fan before being dumped into the river. His corpse was completely disfigured when they pulled it out of the river.

Carolyn did not face any charges as the authorities stated that they “didn’t want to bother” her because she had two children to take care of.

“After hearing every aspect of the investigation and evidence collected regarding Carolyn Bryant’s involvement, the Grand Jury returned a ‘No Bill’ to the charges of both Kidnapping and Manslaughter,” a Leflore County in Mississippi grand jury said in an official statement.

Roy and Milam were later charged with regard to the kidnap of Till in an arrest that took place in 1955. They were both acquitted of murder by an all-White jury following the trial in which Carolyn testified that Till grabbed and verbally threatened her.