Staff and Wire Reports
OCEAN SPRINGS, Mississippi – Memorial services will be held at Center Pointe Church here July 20 for 18-year-old Nolan Wells, the Black teenager whose mysterious death over the Fourth of July weekend has baffled and gripped much of the nation.
Wells mother, Christine Wonsley, said rather than having a sad or depressing program, she hopes people will focus on celebrating her son’s life, more than mourning his tragic death.
“What we’re going to do is kind of have a party to celebrate him, and that’ll be held at the Jackson County Fairgrounds,” Wonsley told reporters this week. “We want to celebrate Nolan, he would not want us to be sitting around crying and eating.”
Wonsley also thanked filmmaker Tyler Perry for covering funeral costs, former NFL star Colin Kaepernick for paying for an independent autopsy into her son’s death and the Rev. Al Sharpton for agreeing to officiate Wells’ service.
Perry previously said in a statement he was moved to act because of his own experiences.
“As a son of the South and a person who to this day questions the death of my nephew in a Louisiana prison … I know what it’s like to not have the answers loved ones so desperately need,” he said, referring to other cases of mysterious deaths. “It is my hope that Nolan’s parents and all who knew and loved him get to the truth of what happened in Mississippi.”
A fun-loving college athlete, Wells had traveled to Horn Island with three white friends on July 4 but failed to return with them when they left around 3 p.m. Conflicting accounts have been given as to whether he planned to remain on Horn Island, about 7 miles offshore, to talk to a young lady — or to return with those friends.
The roughly 11-mile-long spit of land is near the Alabama state line. The island is uninhabited and accessible only by boat and is popular for parties and gatherings, officials said.
Wells’ mother reported him missing shortly after midnight on July 5. The next day, boat and rescue crews launched searches and Wells’ body was recovered in waters near the island afterward.
Speculation and suspicion about the teen’s death have been rampant online, as people grapple with the state’s history of racial tension and what it means to be a Black person in a majority-white space. Family and attorneys have said from photos and videos of the Fourth of July celebration on the island, where nearly 200 people had gathered, that Wells was one of very few Black people present.
The Congressional Black Caucus also weighed in this week, adding to calls for an independent investigation into the death.
Authorities with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department and other agencies were quick to say they did not suspect foul play in his death. Results of an official autopsy are still pending, and the investigation is continuing, officials said.
Both the family’s attorneys and Jackson County Sheriff’s Department investigators have asked witnesses or anyone with video from the island to come forward as they seek answers about the moments before Wells’ disappearance and death.
Wells, who would have turned 19 next month, attended Southwest Mississippi Community College, where he played wide receiver on the football team. His family has urged a deeper investigation, saying he could swim. They also questioned why his friends would leave him behind but take his keys and phone.
Family members retrieved his phone from the home of one of Wells’ friends the evening of July 4 after using a locator app to find it. His family said their son was an avid Snapchat user, but there were no posts or messages from the 24 hours or so before they retrieved it.
Crump previously said he planned to hire an expert to determine whether data could be recovered from the phone or social media.
This week, he said the family will work with a local prosecutor’s office to inspect the contents of his cellphone as the investigation into his death continues.
Family members also met with District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath this week, largely to discuss the inquiry process. But attorney Ben Crump said McIlrath also committed to presenting the investigation to a grand jury once it was completed.
“The hope is when this is presented to the grand jury, all relevant witnesses and evidence will be presented to them, so we can have a fair and impartial investigation into the death of Nolan Wells,” Crump said.
“Our lived experiences tell us that we must question everything, everybody’s role, law enforcement’s role. That is the lived experience as Black people in America.”
Associated Press writers Laura Turbay and Claudia Lauer contributed to this report.
