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(NEW YORK) — Emmett Till’s cousin and advocates for justice in the decades-old case expressed disappointment in a grand jury’s decision not to indict the woman who accused Till of making advances at her before the 14-year-old was kidnapped and murdered.

A grand jury in Leflore County, Mississippi, determined there was insufficient evidence to indict Carolyn Bryant Donham, 88, on charges of kidnapping and manslaughter, Dewayne Richardson, the country’s district attorney, said.

Bryant Donham’s statement allegedly led to Till’s kidnapping and murder in August 1955 at the hands of her husband Roy Bryant and his half-brother J.W. Milam. The two men were acquitted of murder charges by an all-white jury weeks after Till’s mutilated body was found in the Tallahatchie River. Bryant Donham was never arrested.

For Rev. Wheeler Parker Jr., Till’s cousin and the last living witness to his abduction, the decision marks a difficult, though anticipated outcome to Mississippi officials’ promise to “leave no stone unturned” in the 67-year fight for justice for his best friend, he said in a statement.

“This outcome is unfortunate, but predictable, news,” Parker said. “The prosecutor tried his best, and we appreciate his efforts, but he alone cannot undo hundreds of years of anti-Black systems that guaranteed those who killed Emmett Till would go unpunished, to this day.”

Keith Beauchamp, the director of the documentary The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till and writer of upcoming film Till, told ABC News on Wednesday the grand jury decision is “a huge blow” for racial reconciliation in the United States.

“I respect, of course, the grand jury’s decision, but it does not mean that I have to agree with it. When I think of what has just happened as a Black person, as Black people who are constant victims of the judicial system of America, it’s a huge blow. I feel that it’s a huge blow to our humanity,” he said.

Beauchamp had expressed hope for a different outcome after an original warrant for Bryant Donham’s arrest was found in a Leflore County courthouse in June.

“Although we have not received what many, I believe, would want…I have some solace knowing that Carolyn Bryant won’t be riding away in the sunset without looking over her shoulder,” he said. “It is important that we hold people accountable for their actions if we truly want to see change in this country when it comes to civil and human rights.”

The U.S. Justice Department reopened an investigation into Till’s murder in 2018 but was unable to uncover sufficient evidence for a federal prosecution of Bryant Donham.

While the decision resurrects the question of whether Bryant Donham will ever face charges for the kidnapping and killing of Till, Beauchamp says he will continue to search for new evidence to see the case brought to court again.

“Cold cases always heat up,” he said, adding that he hopes raising awareness will bring new information and closure to Till’s family.

“No family should ever have to endure this pain for this long,” Parker said. “Going forward, we must keep the details, and memory, of the brutal murder of Emmett Till, and the courage of Mamie Mobley, alive, so that we can reduce racial violence, improve our system of justice, and treat each other with the dignity and respect with which Mrs. Mobley graced us all.”

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(HIGHLAND PARK, Ill.) — An 8-year-old boy left paralyzed in the mass shooting at the Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois, plans to return to school in the fall with his twin brother.

The family of Cooper Roberts shared in an update Tuesday that the boy is expected to start third grade at Braeside Elementary School in Highland Park with his brother, Luke, in six to 12 weeks.

Cooper is currently in daily physical and occupational therapy at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago.

“This is a huge motivation for Cooper as he is excited to return to the classroom and see his friends,” a spokesperson for the Roberts family said in a statement. “He will likely return to classes for half-days and continue to participate in long-term outpatient physical and occupational therapy at AbiiltyLab for the part of the day.”

Cooper was attending his town’s Fourth of July parade with Luke and their parents Jason and Keely Roberts when the shooting occurred. The suspected gunman, Robert “Bobby” Crimo III, allegedly climbed onto the roof of a business and used a high-powered rifle to unleash more than 70 rounds on marchers and revelers, according to police.

The attack left seven people dead and at least 38 people injured.

During the shooting, a bullet went into Cooper’s back and exited through his chest, “which did significant damage throughout his body, including to his aorta, liver, esophagus and spinal cord,” Keely Roberts said in a statement last month.

Keely Roberts, a local school superintendent, was shot in two parts of her leg and needs ongoing orthopedic treatment.

Cooper’s twin, Luke, was hit by shrapnel. The family said the twin brothers are receiving mental health support in the wake of the shooting.

“Both Cooper and Luke are participating in private counseling and other mental health services to support their healing from the emotional and psychological trauma of the shooting,” the spokesperson said. “Cooper is experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, including flashbacks that are disrupting his sleep.”

Cooper is also still receiving medical care at University of Chicago Comer Children’s Hospital, where doctors are continuing to monitor his healing from his multiple surgeries.

A GoFundMe created for the Roberts family has raised nearly $2 million.

According to the spokesperson, the family is currently planning for how to care for Cooper once he returns home.

“They must explore options for long-term housing for their large family as the Roberts’ 100-year-old home in Highland Park cannot be reconfigured to accommodate his rehabilitation needs for home-based therapies,” the spokesperson said, adding the family is “grateful for and humbled by the outpouring of prayers and support” they have received. “They also need a wheelchair-accessible vehicle to support their ability to transport Cooper daily once released from inpatient care.”

The Roberts family, which also includes four daughters ages 18 to 26, moved to Highland Park, a Chicago suburb, last year from a nearby town.

Earlier this month, the Roberts family shared the first photos of Cooper since the parade attack.

The photos showed him reuniting with their beloved family dog, George.

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(EVANSVILLE, Ind.) — Three people are dead after a house exploded Wednesday in southern Indiana, officials said.

Dozens of firefighters responded to the scene in Evansville, after the blast occurred Wednesday afternoon on the 1000 block of North Weinbach Avenue, officials said.

So far three deaths have been reported to the Vanderburgh County Coroner’s Office as a result of the explosion, chief deputy coroner David Anson said in a statement. The victims’ names will be released pending family notification, he said.

The home where the explosion occurred was destroyed and 39 other structures were “damaged severely or suffered minor damage,” Evansville Fire Chief Mike Connelly told reporters Wednesday evening. The Knight Township Trustee’s Office was among the buildings damaged and will be closed for the foreseeable future, officials said.

According to Evansville’s building department, 11 of the 39 homes damaged in the explosion are uninhabitable, Connelly said.

Some 60 firefighters were on the scene assisting, Connelly said.

A 100-foot radius around the blast is not searchable and some buildings are not safe to enter, Connelly said, noting that there could be other victims.

The cause of the explosion is under investigation.

CenterPoint Energy arrived following the blast and “made the scene safe,” Connelly said. “There was no detection of gas and they’re restoring service now.”

Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke was on-site surveilling the damage.

“There’s a big investigation and cleanup effort underway,” Winnecke told ABC Evansville affiliate WEHT.

An off-duty Evansville police officer reported the explosion, the mayor said.

The block where the incident occurred “will be shut down for the foreseeable future,” the Evansville Police Department said.

“As more information becomes available, the respective agencies investigating will be able to provide more information,” the department said.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

ABC News’ Darren Reynolds contributed to this report.

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(TRUCKEE, Calif.) — Authorities are urging people to come forward with tips as they continue searching for a missing 16-year-old who was last seen early Saturday at a large party near a campground in northern California.

“We’re trying to find out exactly what happened. We believe someone knows, but they are not coming forward,” Placer County Sheriff Lt. Josh Barnhart told reporters during a briefing Wednesday afternoon.

Kiely Rodni was last seen at around 12:30 a.m. Saturday near the Prosser Family Campground in the small town of Truckee, some 20 miles north of Lake Tahoe, according to the Placer County Sheriff’s Office. Her phone has been out of signal since then, and her car — a silver 2013 Honda CRV with a California license plate No. 8YUR127 — has also been reported missing, authorities said.

The teen had attended a large party that night alongside upward of 300 young people, according to the Placer County Sheriff’s Office, which is leading the ongoing investigation and search.

The Placer County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday that detectives obtained surveillance footage from a local business in Truckee that shows Rodni around 6:30 p.m. on the night of her disappearance.

That footage is the only known lead so far in the case, the sheriff’s office said.

“So far nothing has been able to lead us to Kiely,” Angela Musallam, public information officer for the Placer County Sheriff’s Office, told reporters Wednesday.

The Placer County Sheriff’s Office has urged anyone who saw her that night to come forward. So far investigators have received more than 200 tips, according to Placer County Sgt. Scott Alford. Though beyond the surveillance footage from the Truckee business, law enforcement has no new leads in the case, Barnhart said.

“We do not have any new leads, and that, I can tell you, is very frustrating for us,” Barnhart said. “We reiterate that anyone, please, anyone that was at the party that night please come to law enforcement.”

“People that were there know something. If you know something, please say something,” he said.

Rodni’s family has also urged people to speak out.

“We’re just begging, begging for you to please come forward and share your story,” Rodni’s mother, Lindsey Rodni-Nieman, told ABC News.

Detectives are not ruling out a possible abduction, though “right now we don’t have any evidence that supports an abduction,” Alford told reporters during a briefing Tuesday.

“We’re considering everything,” he said. “This is a missing person’s case, this is a search-and-rescue effort.”

Dozens of law enforcement personnel have been involved in the search, including foot patrol, aircraft and dive teams. A canine team has also been utilized.

Other local, state and federal agencies, including the Truckee Police Department, the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office, the California Highway Patrol and the FBI, are assisting the Placer County Sheriff’s Office in the investigation, according to Musallam.

A $50,000 reward is being offered for information leading to Rodni’s safe return. Authorities said she was last seen wearing a black bodysuit, green pants with a black belt and black Vans shoes. She also may have a black hoodie that was loaned to her several days before she disappeared, the sheriff’s office said.

“We can’t stress this enough — out of the 200-300 juveniles and young adults who were at that party at the Prosser Campground Friday evening — somebody knows something about Kylie,” Musallam said during Tuesday’s briefing. “We are please urging and pleading with the community to please come forward. You will remain anonymous.”

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(EVANSVILLE, Ind.) — Three people are dead after a house exploded Wednesday in southern Indiana, officials said.

Dozens of firefighters responded to the scene in Evansville, after the blast occurred Wednesday afternoon on the 1000 block of North Weinbach Avenue, officials said.

So far three deaths have been reported to the Vanderburgh County Coroner’s Office as a result of the explosion, chief deputy coroner David Anson said in a statement. The victims’ names will be released pending family notification, he said.

The home where the explosion occurred was destroyed and 39 other structures were “damaged severely or suffered minor damage,” Evansville Fire Chief Mike Connelly told reporters Wednesday evening. The Knight Township Trustee’s Office was among the buildings damaged and will be closed for the foreseeable future, officials said.

Some 60 firefighters were on the scene assisting, Connelly said.

A 100-foot radius around the blast is not searchable and some buildings are not safe to enter, Connelly said, noting that there could be other victims.

The cause of the explosion is under investigation.

CenterPoint Energy arrived following the blast and “made the scene safe,” Connelly said. “There was no detection of gas and they’re restoring service now.”

Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke was on-site surveilling the damage.

“There’s a big investigation and cleanup effort underway,” Winnecke told ABC Evansville affiliate WEHT.

An off-duty Evansville police officer reported the explosion, the mayor said.

The block where the incident occurred “will be shut down for the foreseeable future,” the Evansville Police Department said.

“As more information becomes available, the respective agencies investigating will be able to provide more information,” the department said.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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(NEW YORK) — Donald Trump on Wednesday invoked his Fifth Amendment protection against testifying against himself during an hours-long deposition as part of the New York attorney general’s civil investigation into his family real estate business.

The former president was seen arriving at the attorney general’s office in New York City around 9 a.m. local time and left about six hours later.

A source with knowledge of the matter confirmed to ABC News that Trump declined to answer questions from investigators in the deposition and, the source said, it is unlikely he will return for any additional questions.

A spokesperson for Attorney General Letitia James declined to comment.

Sources said the only question Trump answered was when Kevin Wallace, a lawyer in James’ office who has been leading the investigation, asked his name. Otherwise he invoked the Fifth each time.

In an emailed statement to reporters while he was in the deposition, Trump said, in part, “Under the advice of my counsel … I declined to answer the questions under the rights and privileges afforded to every citizen under the United States Constitution.”

His statement also included lengthy attacks on the James’ investigation.

The attorney general’s office where Trump appeared is across the street from one of the Trump-branded buildings included in the civil investigation.

The attorney general herself began Trump’s deposition, sources familiar said — kicking off the six-hour exchange, including breaks.

Trump also read into the record a statement that echoed the one released by his office as the deposition began. He sat directly across from James as he accused her of political motivation. She did not react, the sources said.

As he left Wednesday afternoon, his motorcade drove by a number of onlookers and Trump was seen waving from the window.

The deposition in the civil case follows an escalation in a separate federal investigation into Trump’s handling of classified material. On Monday, the FBI searched Trump’s residence in Palm Beach, Florida.

Wednesday’s deposition, which had been delayed from July due to the death of Trump’s ex-wife Ivana, came after a months-long court fight during which Trump was held in contempt as he fought the attorney general’s subpoena.

Trump has denied any wrongdoing and called the investigation politically motivated.

“My great company, and myself, are being attacked from all sides. Banana Republic!” he said in a statement on his social media outlet, Truth Social, shortly before Wednesday’s deposition.

Two of his grown children, Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump, have already been deposed as part of the civil probe, sources said.

Trump argued unsuccessfully that he should not have to sit for a deposition while the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office was conducting a parallel criminal investigation. While the Manhattan DA’s case remains active, two senior prosecutors who had been leading it resigned earlier this year over the lack of an indictment.

James has said her office uncovered evidence of potentially fraudulent conduct in the way the Trump Organization valued its real estate holdings when seeking loans and when asking for tax breaks.

Lawyers in her office have said in court that the office is nearing a decision on an enforcement action.

ABC News’ Will Steakin contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — The New Mexico Environment Department filed an administrative complaint against Rust Movie Productions, after the production company had contested citations issued in April alleging hazards on the set that may have led to the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the “Rust” movie set last October.

The contested citations also included a fine of $136,793, making for the highest level of citation and maximum fine allowable by law in New Mexico.

Hutchins died and the film’s director, Joel Souza, was hospitalized after a gun held by Alec Baldwin as a prop fired a live round.

NMED issued the citations following a six-month investigation into workplace safety conditions after the shooting. During its investigation, NMED conducted interviews with 14 employees, requested information and documentation from Rust Movie Productions, and communicated with the production company via email to address the work-related fatality and injury.

Rust Movie Productions then contested the citations in May and an informal administrative review was started.

NMED and the production company were unable to reach a settlement of the citations during a 90-day administrative review period. NMED was then required to file a complaint with the Occupational Health and Safety Review Commission.

Rust Movie Productions now has 15 days to submit a response with the commission, before it schedules a hearing.

When it issued the citations, the New Mexico Environment Department’s Occupational Health and Safety Bureau called Hutchins’ death “avoidable.”

The administrative complaint alleges that Rust Movie Productions did not create a workplace free from recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause “death or serious physical harm to employees in that employees were exposed to being struck by discharged rounds or projectiles when firearms were used on the set of the motion picture production.”

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(PALO ALTO, Calif.) — Forty years after a 15-year-old girl was stabbed to death in Northern California, DNA has led to the arrest of her suspected killer, prosecutors announced.

Karen Stitt was last seen on the night of Sept. 2, 1982, heading toward a Sunnyvale bus stop after spending time with her boyfriend, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office said.

The next morning, her naked body was found about 100 yards from the bus stop, according to prosecutors.

The Palo Alto teen had been sexually assaulted and stabbed 59 times, prosecutors said.

Stitt’s boyfriend was cleared based on the DNA evidence left behind at the scene, prosecutors said.

Decades went by without a major lead, prosecutors said, until investigators turned to genetic genealogy, which uses an unknown suspect’s DNA to trace his or her family tree.

Genetic genealogy made headlines in 2018 when the novel investigative tool was used to find the Golden State Killer. Genetic genealogy takes an unknown suspect’s DNA left at a crime scene and identifies it using family members who voluntarily submit DNA samples to a DNA database; this allows police to create a much larger family tree than if they only used law enforcement databases like CODIS.

Through genetic genealogy, the search for Stitt’s killer last year narrowed to four brothers from Fresno, California, including 75-year-old Gary Ramirez, prosecutors said.

Investigators then “used traditional investigative techniques to start eliminating the brothers one-by-one,” Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Rob Baker told ABC News via email Wednesday. “After extensive investigation, we felt confident Gary was the source of the crime scene evidence.”

Last week, the district attorney’s crime lab confirmed Ramirez’s DNA matched the sample at the murder scene, prosecutors said.

On Aug. 2, Ramirez was arrested at his home in Maui, Hawaii, prosecutors announced Tuesday.

Baker said he’s surprised Ramirez’s DNA was not in CODIS, adding that Ramirez has no criminal record at all.

Gary Ramirez served in the U.S. Air Force in the early 1970s after which he spent time in Northern California, Southern California, Colorado and Hawaii, according to prosecutors.

Ramirez is due in court in Hawaii on Wednesday for extradition proceedings, prosecutors said. Once in California, he will be arraigned on murder, rape and kidnapping charges, prosecutors said.

Information on an attorney for Ramirez was not immediately available.

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(NEW YORK) — Three towns on Maryland’s Eastern Shore will pay $5 million to the family of a Black teenager who was killed in an encounter with police officers almost four years ago, according to the attorneys for the family.

Anton Black, a 19-year-old former star high school athlete, died on Sept. 15, 2018, after being restrained by three officers from the Centreville, Greensboro and Ridgley police departments who held him face down for about six minutes, pinning his shoulders, legs and arms, according to a lawsuit filed in federal district court in Baltimore in late 2020.

“I had to watch those police officers kill my son, while he pleaded for his life and called out to me. There are no words to describe the immense hurt that I will always feel when I think back on that tragic day, when I think of my son,” Black’s mother, Janell Black, said in a statement Monday.

Under the settlement, the three towns have also agreed to make changes in their police departments’ training of officers in order to avoid future deaths of this nature, according to the family’s lawyers.

The changes include an overhaul in “use of force” policies for the three Eastern Shore municipalities, more resources for police confronting mental health emergencies and mandated officer training in de-escalation, intervention and implicit bias, the lawyers say. The policy changes also strengthen hiring transparency and public complaint reporting.

The federal lawsuit was filed after local prosecutors declined to pursue charges over Black’s death. The police officers involved argued that they did not use excessive force and that drug use or Black’s mental illness instead contributed to the cardiac arrest that ended his life.

On the night of his killing, a woman called 911 claiming that Black was fighting with another boy, according to the lawsuit. Another witness said the boys were engaged in “ordinary roughhousing,” according to the lawsuit.

Black had been diagnosed with severe bipolar disorder just months before the incident, the lawsuit said. At the time of the 911 call and police response, Black was enduring a mental health crisis, according to the lawsuit.

Black ran when confronted by a responding police officer, the lawsuit said. The other officers and a bystander then chased him, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit said that the officers used a taser to get him on the ground, where he was pinned face-down until he went unconscious.

One of the officers wrote in a court affidavit that he and another officer had to struggle with Black in order to keep him restrained and handcuffed.

That lawsuit argued that the officers involved used excessive force and then tried to cover up the killing by using false claims that Black was under the influence of marijuana that was laced with another drug, leading to the officers accusing Black of demonstrating “superhuman” strength.

A toxicology report released months after Black’s death showed no drugs in his system, according to the lawsuit.

David Fowler, the state medical examiner at the time, released an autopsy four months after the incident that instead blamed congenital heart abnormalities for Black’s death, classifying the death as an accident. Fowler said there was no evidence that the police officer’s actions had caused the death.

Black’s family is still pursuing litigation against the medical examiner’s office and Fowler, who have been linked to the cover-up of Black’s killing, according to the family’s lawyers.

Lawyers representing Fowler and the medical examiner’s office have not yet responded to ABC News’ request for comment. A response from Fowler to the family’s lawsuit said that his and his office’s actions were “reasonable and legally justified.” The response stated that Fowler is not liable for Black’s death and neither are the officers involved.

“No one deserves to be killed like this,” Black’s sister, LaToya Holley, said in a statement Monday. “Anton Black did not deserve this. He will never be forgotten. He was such a sweet, nice, and loving person. There will always be a part of him in my heart.”

The settlement reached with the towns also covered the family’s claims against individuals involved in Black’s death, including Thomas Webster IV, a former Greensboro police officer; Michael Petyo, the former chief of the Greensboro Police Department; Gary Manos, the former chief of the Ridgely Police Department; and Dennis Lannon, a former Centreville police officer.

Lawyers representing the defendants, and the three towns, did not immediately respond to ABC News’ requests for comment.

“Today, we are hopeful that by reforming these local police departments, we will start to move a little closer in the right direction, away from white supremacy and closer to a nation of true equality and justice,” Richard Potter, a member of the Coalition for Justice for Anton Black which joined the lawsuit against the three towns, said in a statement Monday.

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(NEW YORK) — Donald Trump on Wednesday indicated he invoked his Fifth Amendment protection against testifying against himself during a scheduled deposition that day as part of the New York attorney general’s civil investigation into his family real estate business.

The former president was seen arriving at the attorney general’s office in New York City around 9 a.m. local time.

In an emailed statement to reporters about an hour and a half later, Trump said, in part, “Under the advice of my counsel … I declined to answer the questions under the rights and privileges afforded to every citizen under the United States Constitution.” His statement also included lengthy attacks on the state attorney general’s investigation.

A source with knowledge of the matter subsequently confirmed to ABC News that Trump was declining to answer questions from investigators.

As of early Wednesday afternoon, Trump remained at the attorney general’s office — across the street from one of the Trump-branded buildings included in the civil investigation.

A spokesperson for New York Attorney General Letitia James declined to comment.

The deposition in the civil case follows an escalation in a separate federal investigation into Trump’s handling of classified material. On Monday, the FBI searched Trump’s residence in Palm Beach, Florida.

Wednesday’s deposition, which had been delayed from July due to the death of Trump’s ex-wife Ivana, comes after a months-long court fight during which Trump was held in contempt as he fought the attorney general’s subpoena.

Trump has denied any wrongdoing and has called the investigation politically motivated.

“My great company, and myself, are being attacked from all sides. Banana Republic!” he said in a statement on his social media outlet, Truth Social, shortly before Wednesday’s deposition.

Two of his grown children, Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump, have already been deposed as part of the civil probe, sources said.

Trump argued unsuccessfully that he should not have to sit for a deposition while the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office was conducting a parallel criminal investigation. While the Manhattan DA’s case remains active, two senior prosecutors who had been leading it resigned earlier this year over the lack of an indictment.

James has said her office uncovered evidence of potentially fraudulent conduct in the way the Trump Organization valued its real estate holdings when seeking loans and when asking for tax breaks.

Lawyers in her office have said in court that the office is nearing a decision on an enforcement action.

ABC News’ Will Steakin contributed to this report.

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