A Mississippi grand jury has declined to bring criminal charges in the death of 18-year-old Nolan Xavier Wells, but the teenager’s family says one of the most basic questions remains unanswered.
The family wants to know how Wells sustained recent blunt-force injuries to the back of his head and other areas of his body before he was found dead off Horn Island.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump and the family’s legal team challenged the decision Tuesday and released the final report from an independent autopsy conducted by forensic pathologist Dr. Roger A. Mitchell Jr. They urged Jackson County District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath to keep the investigation open and to release the state medical examiner’s complete autopsy report and investigative file.
“We don’t know how Nolan died, and neither does the State of Mississippi,” Crump said. “Mississippi must keep investigating, and if it will not pursue this to the end, the Department of Justice should.”
The Jackson County grand jury unanimously returned a “no true bill” after reviewing the investigation into Wells’ death, finding insufficient evidence to indict anyone. The grand jury issued 132 subpoenas, heard testimony from 43 witnesses, and considered physical and digital evidence, including cellphone records, GPS data, video, and investigative reports.
Wells, who was Black, traveled with friends to Horn Island off the Mississippi Gulf Coast on July 4. Authorities said friends reported that Wells chose to remain on the island when they departed, expecting to return to the mainland with someone else. Two days later, his body was found on the northwest end of the island.
The grand jury reported finding no credible evidence that anyone aboard the three boats involved in the trip committed a crime related to Wells’ death. McIlrath also said investigators found no evidence that his disappearance or death was racially motivated.
But the grand jury’s finding that the position, condition, location, and time of discovery of Wells’ body were “consistent with drowning” did not constitute a medical determination that drowning caused his death. According to the grand jury report, both Mississippi’s chief medical examiner and the independent pathologist classified the cause and manner of death as undetermined.
Mitchell’s independent autopsy found recent, unexplained blunt-force injuries to the back of Wells’ head and additional injuries to other areas of his back, according to the family’s legal team. The family says Mississippi’s pathologist had earlier identified two contusions on the back of Wells’ head.
The legal team also said the state medical examiner did not photograph the back of Wells’ head, leaving the independent examination to assess the injuries following the initial autopsy.
Mitchell concluded that an undetermined cause and manner of death remained the scientifically supportable findings. He also cautioned that drowning is a diagnosis of exclusion, meaning other possible causes of death must be ruled out.
The family is now renewing its request for federal review.
On Aug. 12, Congressional Black Caucus Chair Yvette D. Clarke and other caucus members asked U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel to conduct an independent federal review of Wells’ disappearance and death. The lawmakers asked federal authorities to determine whether grounds exist for a federal investigation, including under federal civil rights laws.
“The Wells family deserves to understand what happened to their son. They deserve answers. They deserve transparency,” the legislators continued. “And they deserve confidence that every available resource has been brought to bear in determining the truth.”
Wells’ family has questioned from the beginning the account that he voluntarily remained behind on the island. His mother, Christine Wonsley, told “Good Morning America” in July that her son had been taught never to separate from the people he traveled with.
McIlrath has said the case could be revisited if new evidence emerges.
The family’s attorneys said forensic experts also intend to conduct a more thorough examination of Wells’ cellphone, including social media applications they say were not part of the preliminary investigation.
For Crump, the absence of an indictment does not answer what happened between Wells’ arrival on Horn Island and the discovery of his body two days later.
“An independent autopsy documented traces of blood and recent blunt force injuries to the back of Nolan’s head and his back,” Crump said. “To this day, not one person has explained how they got there.”
The civil rights attorney said the teen’s family is still seeking justice.
“Nolan’s family will not rest until we know what happened to him, and neither will we.”
