Did Carolyn Bryant Victim, Emmett Till Actually Whistle? Or Did He Have A Stutter?

After the news about Emmett Till’s stutter was revealed people are wondering if he actually whistle. He was diagnosed with polio when he was five years old, which left him with a slight stutter.

He was accused of whistling and making sexual overtures to Carolyn Bryant, a white woman in her store.

Emmett’s supporters have become enraged since the news of his stuttering was made public. They claim he was punished simply for being black. He had never done any of the things Bryant had accused him of doing in court.

After nearly six decades of announcing her innocence by an all-white jury, news of her recanting her testimony resurfaced on the internet.

Timothy Tyson, the author, revealed details of a 2008 interview with Carolyn Bryant in 2017. He claimed that during the interview, she admitted to fabricating portions of her testimony at the trial. 

The statement that she made about Emmett snatching her around the waist and yelling obscenities are false according to Bryant. “Nothing that boy did could ever be justified to what he faced,” she added.

Bryant’s testimony was sought by the defense as evidence for a possible appeal in the event of a conviction. And the case was opened once again only to be closed in December 2021, as the evidence of Bryant’s recanting her statement could not be backup.

Marsha Bryant, Donham’s daughter-in-law, who was witnessed for both interviews, said her mother-in-law “never recanted.”

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Carolyn Bryant Donham Husband Roy Bryant- Family Details

Carolyn Bryant Donham was married to her husband Roy Bryant, however, she later divorced Roy and remarried and get the name of Donham. 

She has never disclosed any information about her family beside her ex-husband Roy and her daughter-in-law, Marsha Bryant.

Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, Bryant’s half-brother, were charged with Till’s murder. They traveled to Till’s uncle, Mose Wright’s house, kidnapped him, thrashed him in a toolhouse behind Milam’s residence. 

And threw his corpse in Tallahatchie River, from where his body was discovered later.

Roy was very abusive in nature as later revealed. Roy Bryant had been abusive to Carolyn, according to Tyson. It was clear she was afraid of her husband, he added.

This may be the reason behind her embellished testimony that she gave under duress.

Is Carolyn Bryant Still Alive Now?

Yes, Carolyn Bryant is still alive now. She is the only living associate of Emmett’s murder case. 

More than a decade after her interview with Tyson, Donham has remained out of the public eye.

Her family keeps her current status and whereabouts private, though Bryant once disclosed to Tyson that Donham was in ill health prior to the publication of his book, according to The Clarion-Ledger.