Last week, an unserved warrant charging Carolyn Bryant for the 1955 kidnapping of Emmett Till was found in the basement of a Mississippi courthouse.
The search was initiated by the Emmett Till Legacy Foundation and two members of Till’s family were included: Cousin Deborah Watts, head of the Foundation; and her daughter, Teri Watts.
The warrant, dated Aug. 29, 1955, called for the arrest of Carolyn Bryant Donham. The warrant was found in a box and has been certified as genuine.
Bryant is in her 80s and reportedly living in North Carolina, according to the Associated Press. Terri Watts says this is new evidence, “Serve it and charge her… This is what the state of Mississippi needs to go ahead.”
The AP states there were reports of a warrant in 1955 but the Leflore County sheriff at the time told reporters he did not want to “bother” Bryant because she had two young children.