The family of Nolan Wells and their legal team, headed by attorney Ben Crump, made an emotional plea for justice and transparency after a Mississippi grand jury found ‘no evidence’ of racial or criminal wrongdoing in the death of the 18-year-old.
District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath, who represents Jackson, George and Greene County, Mississippi, texted Nolan’s parents that the report would be released. Roughly an hour later, the attorney took to Facebook with a video and a 40-page series of documents that included a nine-page, heavily redacted report and dozens of communiques between attorneys.
“To me, that action showed a lack of empathy and a need to get this case done and over with,” Nolan’s mother, Christine Wells-Wonsley, said during a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.
Through tears, Wonsley continued, “Last night was a reminder that our son’s life does not matter to those who hold positions of power and are supposed to serve and protect the public.”
Numerous unanswered questions remain about how the Black teen died.
Wells disappeared on Horn Island, Mississippi, after traveling there for a Fourth of July celebration with three White friends. His body was found two days later by a park ranger. News about Wells’ disappearance went viral on social media, with users speculating that there was a racial motive behind his death since he was with mostly White friends.
In the video statement posted late Monday night on her Facebook, Myers McIlrath said, “There is absolutely no evidence to support the allegation that Nolan’s disappearance and death were racially motivated.”
The grand jury report, which was filed on Friday, was not easily accessible on the district attorney’s website.
The 23-person grand jury consisted of 12 White jurors, 5 Black jurors, two Hispanic jurors, two Native American jurors, one Asian juror, and a juror identified as “other.” Evidence heard by the grand jury included testimony from 43 witnesses, recorded statements to police, a preliminary report regarding Wells’ cell phone and a 261-page report on Snapchat conversations.
In the report, the grand jury found that “the position of, the condition of, time of discovery, and location of Mr. Wells’ body is consistent with drowning.”
But an independent forensic pathologist hired by Wells’ family determined that the cause and manner of his death were undetermined.
Crump released the full independent autopsy on Tuesday, which found “red discoloration” and signs of blunt force trauma on the back of Wells’ head.
“Much of the law enforcement investigation focused on drowning as the primary cause of death,” Dr. Roger Mitchell, the forensic pathologist who conducted the independent autopsy, wrote in his report. “However, drowning is a ‘diagnosis of exclusion.’ This means that all other causes must be ruled out prior to certifying a death as drowning. The available record does not definitively establish the decedent’s condition immediately before entering the water, whether he entered voluntarily or was forced, whether he was conscious or impaired, or why he would have been unable to extricate himself despite reportedly being able to swim and while in the presence of other persons.”
Mitchell further argued that “The investigation should remain open and active until the circumstances surrounding the blunt-force injuries, the events immediately preceding entry into the water, the decedent’s level of consciousness and functional capacity, witness observations and timeline, and any potential intervening non-accidental factors can be definitively established.”
The Wells’ family said they read the report “page-by-page” and do not feel Nolan was given “a thorough, transparent, and honest investigation” and are calling for the investigation to remain open and for additional records to be released.
“My question is: How can a jury come to the conclusion of drowning, despite knowing that there was trauma to his body, and despite hearing many inconsistencies,” Wells-Wonsley said during the press conference. “[His father] Elmore and I do not believe that Nolan simply and accidentally drowned, and nobody saw anything, and no one knows anything.”
Crump also skewered the grand jury’s findings.
“D.A. McIlrath went [to] great lengths to defend her community in an attempt to close the chapter on Nolan Wells’ death,” Crump said.
The Emancipator on Tuesday reached out to District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath for comment but has not received a response
Last month, the Congressional Black Caucus requested FBI Director Kash Patel and U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche conduct an independent federal review of Wells’ death. The Justice Department, according to ABC News, said it received the letter and is “ensuring the appropriate personnel within the Department are reviewing it carefully.”
In the meantime, Elmore Wonsley, Wells’ father, called on the public to continue asking questions and help them seek accountability in his son’s death.
“Continue to speak his name because he’s not a hashtag. He’s our son.”
Social Media Correspondent Camille Birdsong and Senior Correspondent Chandelis Duster contributed to this report.
