The family of Nolan Wells’ renewed their call for the Department of Justice to conduct an independent investigation into the death of the teenager who was found dead on July 6, two days after he took a boating trip with friends on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
At an Oct. 5 press conference, Christine Wells-Wonsley reminded the audience it’s been 93 days since the death of her son and they are still searching for answers. This comes after a grand jury returned a No True Bill, meaning it did not have enough evidence to charge anyone in Wells’ death.
“The grand jury comes back, and they say, “You know what? [His death] is consistent with drowning, accidental drowning. As a healthcare professional myself, I cannot believe that. As a mother, I cannot believe that. I cannot take that ruling, and I cannot move on with my life,” Wells-Wonsley said. “Our justice system has told us to just take the answer you have been given.”
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump told reporters his administration is looking into it.
“Yes, we are,” he said.
However, a DOJ spokesperson told Capital B that the FBI assisted in the investigation and concurred with that assessment.
“There is no evidence to indicate foul play or that any crime has been committed,” the statement said.
The Wells family isn’t alone in their pursuit.
Already, the Congressional Black Caucus sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel urging them to launch an independent review of the case.
Wells’ body was found on Horn Island — a remote area of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The 18-year-old had gone on a boat trip there with a group of white friends.
On Sept. 28, U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson, a Democrat from Florida, sent a letter to the National Park Service demanding the agency look into Wells’ death because Horn Island is federally protected land.
“Give this case the sustained attention it demands, communicate directly with Nolan’s family as the investigation proceeds, and make certain that no opportunity to establish the truth is lost,” Wilson wrote.
The National Park Service did not respond to Capital B’s request for comment by the time of publication.
Expert finds deleted messages on Wells’ phone
Days after a grand jury declined to charge anyone in Nolan Wells’ death, questions still remain about what happened.
At a Sept. 24 news conference, Andrew Garrett, a digital forensic expert hired by the Wells family’s legal team, extensively copied the data from the college student’s phone. It took 30 hours – 12 hours passed the state’s deadline to receive a report.
The data showed that Wells used Snapchat and Instagram for 95% of his communication. He rarely texted, but his last text message was sent to his aunt on July 3 around 8:30 p.m. that said, “Thank you.”
Garrett also said Snapchat messages were deleted from Wells’ phone from the last time he used it on July 4 until his parents retrieved it at 3 a.m on July 5. There were also hundreds of messages from several group chats on Wells’ phone. This information was provided in a 282-page report to the grand jury.
Garrett’s team also analyzed GPS data, which helped track the device’s location and create a timeline of the phone’s movement.
Wells and his friends arrived at Horn Island around 11:18 a.m. on July 4. He locked his device, and then he resumed activity on his phone around 2:17 p.m. It was the last time Wells used his phone.
“My job is to analyze digital evidence and tell you the facts. No spin, no conjecture, no opinions,” Garrett said. “Lay it out on the table and let other people formulate those opinions as to what it means.”
Wells family attorney Ben Crump released the findings from the state medical examiner’s autopsy report, which has not been previously released. The report stated Wells’ body was found face down in the water and had two dark red-purple scalp contusions around 2 inches. The medical examiner confirmed that the cause and manner of death is undetermined, which is the same conclusion reached by Dr. Roger Mitchell, the forensic pathologist retained by Crump’s team to conduct an independent autopsy.
Lawyers for Wells’ family said a grand jury’s report leaves more questions than answers and accused the district attorney of ending the investigation without determining what caused blunt force trauma to the back of Wells’ head and body.
“The district attorney called the state’s investigation exhaustive. Was it exhaustive or were they exhausted?” Crump said. “An exhaustive investigation should lead to the truth of what happened to Nolan Xavier Wells.”
The grand jury charges no one in Wells’ death
The grand jury said in a report released on Sept. 21 by the Jackson County District Attorney’s Office that it found no criminal or racially motivated wrongdoing after it conducted a comprehensive investigation involving witness testimony, physical and digital evidence, as well as GPS and cellphone data. The 23-member jury — consisting of 12 white people, five African Americans, one Asian, two Hispanics, two Native Americans and one described as other — issued 132 subpoenas and heard from 43 witnesses.
The grand jury “finds that the position of, the condition of, time of discovery, and location of Mr. Wells’ body is consistent with drowning,” it said. The jury added that if credible evidence comes to light that suggests Wells’ death was non-accidental, it will review it in the future.
In a video released on Facebook, District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath said: “The family, the Crump team, and anyone close to Nolan knew that his disappearance and death were not the result of racial hate or violence. Yet the flames of that narrative set against the backdrop of Mississippi’s terrible history, were fanned by both people who knew the truth and those who didn’t.”
For months, his parents have been on a nonstop campaign to get answers about the death of their son.
From the National Urban League Conference to the National Association of Black Journalists annual convention and the Congressional Black Caucus annual legislative conference, they spent the summer connecting with Black leaders and keeping their son’s memory alive.
At the Sept. 22 news conference, Kristen Clarke, general counsel of the NAACP, said the organization is “bringing the full breadth of resources to the next phase of this fight.”
“We are not backing down because every family in our country deserves answers when a loved one dies under suspicious circumstances. Period. Nolan’s family is no different,” Clarke said. “We have a message for the district attorney: your job is not done. This is not over,” Clarke said.
Audio released of a 911 call placed on July 4 raises questions about what happened on the boat. In the audio, a caller can be heard saying that the boat is sinking and they needed a tow, according to CNN. After the dispatcher asked a teenager what he wanted to do, he responded, “I want to get this boat unsank and towed back, yes.”
Although audio has been released, there have been conflicting reports about what the new information actually reveals.
A son mourned
Hundreds gathered in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, on July 20 for the funeral service for Wells.
His parents opened the service reflecting on their son — who would’ve turned 19 next month — and how much he meant to them.
“I want to give all thanks and honor and glory to God for choosing Elmore and me to be Nolan’s parents,” Christine Wonsley said at their son’s funeral at Center Pointe Church. “We thank you, Lord, for the beautiful 18 years that you blessed us with him.”
“He had a way of making people feel seen, welcomed and valued,” she said. “He could lift your confidence with just a few words and make you feel like you belong.”
Between somber words, a eulogy and speeches from the Rev. Al Sharpton and Crump, one thing there’s an agreement on is the tragedy of Wells’ death.
The lack of answers weeks after his body was found on Horn Island, a remote area on the Mississippi Gulf Coast where he went on a boat trip with a group of white friends, was noted in Sharpton’s and Crump’s speeches. Sharpton pledged $50,000 from his National Action Network for leads on what happened to Wells.
“There’s too many unanswered questions,” Sharpton said. “We can’t have someone in law enforcement saying there was no foul play before there was an investigation.”
This story has been updated.
