Key Takeaways
- Nolan Wells’ parents and Ben Crump called for the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice to investigate his death at a Monday (Oct. 5) press conference.
- Their request came after a Mississippi grand jury declined to pursue charges and the district attorney’s office closed its case.
- Christine Wells-Wonsley said the family cannot move on without answers, while Crump cited questions about Wells’ injuries and phone records.
Ben Crump won’t stop until he gets answers about what happened to Nolan Wells. On Monday (Oct. 5), the civil rights attorney joined the 18-year-old’s parents, Christine Wells-Wonsley and Elmore Wonsley, for a press conference urging federal authorities to investigate his death.
Joined by Stop AAPI Hate executive director Cynthia Choi, Crump spoke in Inglewood, California, just days after Wells-Wonsley received the Voice of Courage Award at the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum's 30th anniversary gala.
“You’re going to hear us talk about asking the FBI and the Department of Justice to intervene since the Mississippi District Attorney said after the grand jury proceedings that they have closed their case,” he explained, referring to DA Angel Myers McIlrath’s office closing its case after the grand jury declined to pursue charges. “But we have not closed our case, and we refuse to close the chapter on Nolan Xavier Wells.”
Christine Wells-Wonsley says she “cannot move on” without answers about Nolan Wells’ death
Crump then read a letter from Florida Rep. Frederica Wilson before Choi took the podium to explain why Wells’ death isn’t solely an issue the Black community should be rallying behind, but rather a fight that “belongs to all of us.” She continued, “I’m here standing alongside Christine and Elmore, who have done nothing more than ask what has happened to their son, Nolan. His life mattered.”
Later in the conference, Wells-Wonsley took a moment to thank everyone for standing with her and Wonsley. “I cannot take that ruling, and I cannot move on with my life… We have been left with more questions and heartbreak than any answers,” she said, per ABC News. “Elmore and I, our family, our friends, the community, all of you, we cannot accept that. We cannot. Cannot. So it is our plea that this case is reopened, reexamined.” Take a look below.
As Wells-Wonsley noted in her speech, it’s been three months since Wells went on a Fourth of July trip to Horn Island with friends, during which he disappeared and was found dead two days later. While DA Myers McIlrath said there was “absolutely no evidence to support the allegations that Nolan’s disappearance and death were racially motivated,” Crump has pushed back on that claim several times since then.
Last month, the attorney cited a July report from forensic pathologist Dr. Roger Mitchell, who documented “red discoloration” in the soft tissue at the back of Wells’ head. “To this day, not one person has explained how they got there,” Crump said in a statement.
Crump later held a press conference with Andrew Garrett, who alleged that messages had been deleted between the time Wells last used his phone and when his parents eventually received the device. The forensic examiner also shared a map of GPS coordinates tracking the device throughout the day which, at one point, showed the student-athlete arriving at Horn Island at around 11:18 a.m. ET on the day he went missing.