Who was Emmet Till as noted in the nonfiction book, The Warmth of Other Suns?

Fourteen-year-old Emmett Till was from Chicago and was staying with relatives in Mississippi during the summer. He was accused of saying something unacceptable to a white woman. Till was bludgeoned and shot to death. His body was found in the Tallahatchie River. His mother Mamie Till insisted on having an open casket so that everyone could see what had been done to her only child.