In this Sept. 22. 1955 photo, Carolyn Bryant rests her head on her husband Roy Bryant’s shoulder after she testified in Emmett Till murder court case in Sumner, Miss. Stymied in their calls for a renewed investigation into the murder of Emmett Till, relatives and activists are advocating another possible path toward accountability in Mississippi: They want authorities to launch a kidnapping prosecution against the woman who set off the lynching by accusing the Chicago teen of improper advances in 1955. (AP Photo, File)
An all-white, all-male jury in the Mississippi Delta acquitted J.W. Milam and Roy Bryant of murdering Emmett Till after deliberating 67 minutes. One juror told a reporter that they wouldn’t have taken so long if they hadn’t stopped to drink a Coke.
Milam and Bryant stood before photographers, lit up cigars and kissed their wives in celebration of the not guilty verdict. Months later, the half-brothers admitted to Look magazine that they had indeed killed Till.
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The stories of investigative reporter Jerry Mitchell have helped put four Klansmen and a serial killer behind bars. His stories have also helped free two people from death row, exposed injustices and corruption, prompting investigations and reforms as well as the firings of boards and officials. He is a Pulitzer Prize finalist, a longtime member of Investigative Reporters & Editors, and a winner of more than 30 other national awards, including a $500,000 MacArthur “genius” grant. After working for three decades for the statewide Clarion-Ledger, Mitchell left in 2019 and founded the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting.
