More than a week after the body of Nolan Xavier Wells was found in the waters off a Gulf Coast barrier island where he was last seen, his family met for the first time with the county prosecutor.
Wells’ parents, Christine and Elmore Wonsley, met with Jackson County District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath Wednesday morning in Pascagoula. After the meeting during a news conference, they said McIlrath told them once the investigation is complete, she plans to present the findings to a grand jury. That jury would determine whether there was any criminal wrongdoing and whether anyone should be indicted.
Although the prosecutor shared those plans and the process the case would follow, McIlrath was not able to share investigation updates with the family, said Ben Crump, the Wonsleys’ attorney.
“But they still have questions,” he said during a news conference after the meeting. “ … Every morning they wake up, and there’s a hole in their heart and they are trying to say, ‘What happened to my son?’”
Typically, a district attorney’s office will present non-natural deaths to a grand jury.
State and independent autopsies have been completed, but results including the cause of death and toxicology, have not been released. On Wednesday, Crump said the legal team would likely share the preliminary findings after Wells’ funeral.
The service will be held Monday at Center Pointe Church in Ocean Springs. Visitation will be from 9-11 a.m., and the funeral will follow. Afterward, Christine Wonsley said they plan to host a repast at the Jackson County Fairgrounds, bringing together family, close friends and former teammates.
“He would not want us to be sitting around crying and eating,” she said, thanking the community for support.
Nolan Xavier Wells, center, will his parents, Elmore and Christine Wonsley. Credit: Ben Crump LawChristine Wonsley again asked people who plan to demonstrate to keep any marches peaceful, which her son would have wanted.
Last week in New York, the Wonsleys were joined by Crump and the Rev. Al Sharpton, who called for an investigation that can shed light on whether foul play was involved in Wells’ death.
They also recalled Mississippi’s history of racial injustice and violence, and how investigations into the deaths of Black people aren’t always pursued with the same rigor as the deaths of white victims.
“Our lived experience tells us that we must question everything, question everybody’s role, the law enforcement role,” Crump said Wednesday. “That is the lived experience of us as Black people.”
However, some public officials and friends of Wells have pushed back on how some perceive race as a factor in Wells’ case.
On July 4, the 18-year-old Ocean Springs native traveled by boat with a mostly white group of friends to Horn Island, but he did not return with them. He was reported missing, and following local, state, federal and volunteer search efforts, his body was found off the northwestern tip of the barrier island July 6.
Wells’ parents have questioned why he separated from the group and why he did not have his phone or keys with him. Crump said at the Wednesday news conference that the legal team’s experts and investigators from the sheriff’s office will inspect the contents of Wells’ phone.
The Jackson County Sheriff’s Department is investigating Wells’ death. The sheriff’s office, the legal team and Christine Wonsley have asked the public to share photos, videos and information from those who were on or near Horn Island that day.
Sheriff John Ledbetter has also asked the public not to spread unverified information about the case, especially as speculation and commentary have been shared widely on social media.
On Wednesday, Crump was asked about misinformation being spread in the case, including a picture shared on his Instagram of Wells in a large group at a pool party with drink containers seen in the background. That image was found to be from a month before Wells disappeared. Crump clarified that his office often reposts pictures to encourage people to comment and call in.
Crump has represented other Mississippians, including the family of Kohen Wiley, the 1-year-old shot by a law enforcement officer in June responding a reported shoplifting from a Walmart in Senatobia and Demartravion “Trey” Reed, the 21-year-old Black man found hanging on Delta State University’s campus in September last year.
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