Emmett Till slaying still closed

Not surprising news, but not the result I personally would have hoped for.

Mississippi Grand Jury Declines to Issue Indictment in 1955 Emmett Till Slaying

All but closing the books on a crime that helped give rise to the civil rights movement, a grand jury has refused to bring any new charges in the 1955 slaying of Emmett Till, a black teenager who was beaten and shot after whistling at a white woman in the Mississippi Delta.

The district attorney in rural Leflore County had sought a manslaughter charge against the white woman, Carolyn Bryant Donham, who was suspected of pointing out Till to her husband to punish the boy for what was a grave offense in the segregated South.

But the grand jury last Friday issued a "no bill," meaning it found insufficient evidence, according to documents made public Tuesday.

Since we don't know the facts being laid forward by the district attorney, it's of course hard to say that this was the wrong decision. However, the district attorney obviously felt that there were evidence enough to support an indictment, and the FBI suggested that it would be worth taking a closer look at Donham.

Another chapter in a sad story.