New book spurs call for fresh probe of Emmett Till lynching

Relatives of a black teenager whose 1955 lynching in Mississippi helped trigger the modern civil rights movement say they want a fresh investigation after a new report that a key witness said she lied.

Two cousins of Emmett Till -- Wheeler Parker and Deborah Watts -- say authorities should reopen the investigation.

A new book by Duke University scholar Timothy Tyson quotes Carolyn Donham as saying she wasn’t telling the truth more than six decades ago when she claimed the 14-year-old from Chicago grabbed her and made suggestive comments.

Till was later abducted and killed. His mutilated body was found in the Tallahatchie River. An all-white jury acquitted Donham’s then-husband and his half-brother in the slaying.

Till’s cousins say a new investigation might answering lingering questions about the killing.

This story was originally published February 8, 2017 at 3:17 PM.