The family of Nolan Wells, civil rights attorney Ben Crump, and activist Rev. Al Sharpton held a press conference in New York Friday, July 10, demanding a “thorough” investigation into the death of the 18-year-old football player who had last been seen on Horn Island.
“It is clear that this situation must have the most thorough and objective investigation to lead to justice,” Sharpton said Friday. “What we’ve been told does not make sense, and being that there is lack of confidence in the local authorities, who have already, in my judgment, seemed to mishandled where it was going … When we hear that this young man was engaged in some kind of argument that was on tape. That his cell phone and keys ended up with one of the people that were there on the island and got away. He was one Black with three young white men who happened to end up with his phone, happen to end up with his keys. There’s just too many questions that they should not be closing the investigation.”
Crump added, “Why do you say we need to be retained to lead an independent investigation? It is because the family has distrust of the Mississippi law enforcement officials, giving them a fair investigation, where their Black son ended up dead after going out on a boat with three young white men. The history of Mississippi is something that they don’t just read about in books, but it’s a lived experience for many Black Americans.”
Wells’ story first became national news over the July 4 weekend, when he never returned home from a visit to Horn Island, a remote strip of land about eight miles off the coast of Mississippi. He had gone to the island, a popular summertime destination accessible only by private boat, with some friends to celebrate the holiday. The boat they took out, however, began to malfunction, so they decided to leave the island on another boat. According to the sheriff’s department, Wells said he wanted to stay on the island and would catch another boat later in the afternoon. He was last seen around 3 p.m. on Saturday wearing blue swim trunks and sunglasses.
When he didn’t come home by about midnight on Saturday, his mother, Christine Wells-Wonsley, called the police. A search began the following morning, and numerous agencies and volunteer organizations — including the National Parks Service, the Coast Guard, and the United Cajun Navy — began an exhaustive search. However it wasn’t until Monday morning, July 6, around 8:45 a.m. ET that his body was found.
The Jackson County Sheriff’s Department has said that the investigation into what happened is still ongoing. However, in the wake of Wells’ death — after numerous conspiracy theories began circulating on social media — his family hired civil rights attorney Crump, who is also conducting his own investigation into the teen’s death, including an independent autopsy.
Crump said on Good Morning America Friday morning that civil rights activist and former football player Colin Kaepernick helped fund the independent autopsy; the results of that autopsy, which was conducted by a coroner in Washington, D.C., were not available when the press conference occurred.
“Nolan Wells was a beloved son, teammate and friend who went out to celebrate the Fourth of July and never came home,” Crump said in a statement shortly after taking the case. “His family deserves answers. They deserve the truth. We will not rest until every fact about what happened to Nolan on Horn Island is brought into the light, and we call on investigators to pursue this case with the urgency and transparency this family deserves.”
The sheriff’s department said that the friends he was with have been cooperating with the official investigation. Judge Ashlee Cole, whose son was one of the friends with Wells that day, posted on Facebook in support of Wells’ loved ones. “I graduated high school with Christine Wells-Wonsley,” she wrote. “We are from the same community. I have the utmost respect for her and all of the Wells family. We mourn the loss of Nolan with them. Our prayers have been and will continue to be with them.”
On Friday morning, Wells’ parents gave their first interview to Good Morning America. “Nolan was this bright light,” his mom Christine Wonsley said. “We just want answers.”
This is a developing story…
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