Chief prosecutor Joy Chiles, who worked on one renewal of the historical Emmett Till case, has died at age 67.
According to The Chicago Tribune, Chiles passed away from lung cancer at a hospital in Ruleville on Sept. 22, and her funeral was held in Itta Bena on Sept. 26. She was previously elected to serve as district attorney for three Mississippi Delta counties: Leflore, Sunflower, and Washington in 2003. As such, she became the first Black person and woman to hold the position.
The famed prosecutor reportedly presented evidence to a grand jury of Black and white Leflore County residents in 2007, after investigators spent three years re-examining Till’s murder. The Tribute reported that the FBI allegedly exhumed the black boy’s body to prove he was the one buried at his gravesite in Alsip. The grand jury then reportedly decided against issuing indictments against anyone.
“We are justice seekers and not head hunters,” Chiles told the Associated Press at the time.
Till was brutally lynched at just 14 years old in 1955 after visiting relatives in Mississippi. The Chicago native was kidnapped, beaten, and his body mutilated after being accused of whistling at a white woman, later identified as Carolyn Bryant. His distraught mother, Mamie, shocked the world when she had his casket open on full display for viewers to witness the insidiousness of his murder.
In 2004, the FBI reportedly reopened the Till case after filmmaker Keith Beauchamp–best known for investigating the young teen’s heinous killing and producing films about it–made a list of at least 14 people he felt had a role in Till’s tragic death. He then reportedly went to the police with the names of five who were still alive.
The Justice Department reported that while the statute of limitations expired on potential federal crime, the FBI allegedly worked with state investigators to decide if charges could be brought. A few years later, Chiles began working on the case’s renewal.
