Nolan Wells’ family has called for his autopsy to be made public and for his death to be investigated by the Justice Department — accusing Mississippi officials of trying to close the case “without getting to the truth.”
The family’s attorney, prominent civil rights lawyer Ben Crump, said that the black teen’s family “will not rest” even after a grand jury ruled that Wells’ boating death in July was “consistent with drowning” with no signs of wrongdoing.
The family feels it still doesn’t answer how an independent autopsy found “recent unexplained blunt force injuries to the back of [Wells’] head” when the 18-year-old was found two days after disappearing from a July 4 boat trip with friends, all of whom were white.
“The State of Mississippi is attempting to close the chapter on Nolan Wells’ death without getting to the truth,” Crump said in a statement late Monday.
“Mississippi’s own pathologist found two bruises on the back of this young man’s head and informed investigators of them early in this investigation,” he said.
“An independent autopsy documented traces of blood and recent blunt force injuries to the back of Nolan’s head and his back. To this day, not one person has explained how they got there,” he said.
“We don’t know how Nolan died, and neither does the State of Mississippi. Mississippi must keep investigating, and if it will not pursue this to the end, the Department of Justice should,” Crump stated.
“This grand jury result leaves us with more questions than answers. Nolan’s family will not rest until we know what happened to him, and neither will we.”
Crump, who previously represented the families of high-profile civil rights cases such as Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, George Floyd, and Breonna Taylor, has suggested since joining the case that race was a factor in Wells’ death.
Jackson County District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath accused Crump of stirring up racial tensions.
“There is absolutely no evidence to support the allegations that Nolan’s disappearance and death were racially motivated,” Myers McIlrath said in a video statement Monday, after the grand jury findings were made public.
“Nolan’s friends loved Nolan, and Nolan loved them. Nolan chose to stay on the island that day, and there is not a scintilla of evidence to contradict that,” she went on.
“I’m not suggesting that a grieving mother police the rumors surrounding her child’s death. What I am suggesting is that the Crump team knew better but did not do better.”
Wells’ parents are expected to make a public address later on Tuesday.
The grand jury that met last week issued 132 subpoenas and heard from 43 witnesses and seven experts in relation to the events of July 4 on Horn Island, according to a partially redacted report.
Wells was last seen sometime that afternoon, when friends told police he chose to stay on the island and catch a later ride back with others.
His body was found two days later.
Jackson County Sheriff’s Department did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
