Nolan Xavier Wells’ independent autopsy can’t rule out foul play ...Middle East

An independent pathologist said he could not rule out foul play in the death of Nolan Xavier Wells and urged further investigation is needed to answer multiple lingering questions, according to his autopsy released Wednesday.

Dr. Roger Mitchell Jr. wrote in his July 19 report released at a news conference in Chicago that he encountered multiple challenges when he examined the body of the 18-year-old, whose death has received national attention. 

Wells, who was Black, traveled by boat to Horn Island in the Gulf Coast with a mostly white group of friends on the Fourth of July. Video from that day showed a mostly white crowd on the barrier island. 

“For these reasons, this pathologist cannot rule out if any intervening, nonaccidental factors contributed to or caused the death of Nolan Wells,” said attorney Ben Crump, reading Mitchell’s report results during the news conference at the NAACP national convention in Chicago. 

“He said, based on examination of the body, he cannot rule out foul play. This is significant.”

Mitchell noted decomposition of the body made it difficult to tell whether there were bruises or abrasions on his skin. 

He also said he was unable to examine Wells’ airway and lungs for the presence of water and his stomach for its contents. Mitchell said he did not receive parts of Wells’ throat, leading him to say that he can’t rule out a neck injury as a contributor to Wells’ cause of death.

Mitchell performed the independent autopsy in Washington, paid for by former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, whose organization has an initiative to provide free autopsies for people who died in custody of law enforcement, corrections officers or immigration officials. 

Monday, after Wells’ funeral, Crump said weather delayed the transport of Wells’ body for the independent autopsy. Mitchell also received the body nearly a week after the state had completed its autopsy. 

It is not known whether the independent autopsy findings match or contradict those determined by the state. 

The State Medical Examiner’s Office completed its autopsy July 7, but has not released the findings report because some test results including toxicology are still pending, Jackson County Coroner Bruce Lynd Jr. said Tuesday. The state will provide the report to the local coroner’s office, but Lynd said release of results would have to come from the prosecutor’s office.

Neither Jackson County District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath, who met with the family last week, nor a representative in her office responded to a request for comment.

The Jackson County Sheriff’s Department has provided limited information about its investigation and has not responded to Missisisppi Today’s requests for comment. Sheriff John Ledbetter has told ABC News he suspects Wells drowned, even though the investigation remains open. 

In suspected drowning deaths, it is important to confirm how a person entered the water. Mitchell said he wasn’t able to see the condition of Wells’ body closer to July 4, so he was unable to determine whether Wells was conscious or unconscious when he entered the water and whether he was forced in. 

Because of the amount of decomposition on the body, Mitchell conducted a number of additional examinations to rule out blunt force injuries.

He examined the tissue on the back of Wells’ neck and skull and found a 12 by 8 inch focal area and red discoloration. Mitchell said he couldn’t determine its cause and it could not have been observed during the state’s autopsy because the medical examiner didn’t dissect that area. 

Crump said he hopes the Mississippi medical examiner will give Mitchell the opportunity to see its photographs and observations about the condition of Wells’ body closer to when it was first pulled from the water. He said Mitchell’s findings should be included in the evidence presented to a grand jury. 

The release of the autopsy results comes days after Wells’ burial and funeral in Ocean Springs, which hundreds attended. 

During his eulogy for Wells, the Rev. Al Sharpton announced a $50,000 reward from his organization, the National Action Network, to anyone who could provide information leading to an arrest and conviction. Within a day, the reward amount grew to $125,000 through a match from filmmaker Tyler Perry, who also paid for Wells’ funeral service, and a pledge from NFL Hall of Famer Terrell Owens, who attended the funeral. 

Wells celebrated the Fourth of July with others by taking a boat to Horn Island, one of the Gulf Coast’s largest barrier islands where people are known to dock boats, wade in the water and walk on the white sand shore. Hundreds of people were on the island that day, according to photos and videos.

Wells was reported missing after he did not return to Ocean Springs. Investigators have said Wells told his friends he wanted to stay behind to talk with a woman and that he planned to get a ride off the island. Two days later, a U.S. park ranger found his body off the northwestern tip of Horn Island. 

Wednesday morning, Wells’ family, their attorney Crump released the preliminary autopsy results on the last day of the NAACP’s 117th national convention. 

Last weekend, the NAACP’s national board of directors adopted a resolution that offered condolences to Wells’ family and one that called on local, state and federal authorities including the U.S. Department of Justice to complete an in-depth and transparent review of how Wells “came to be left” on the island and what happened before his body was found. 

NAACP president and CEO Derrick Johnson, who lives in Mississippi, said at the press conference that narrative matters in Wells’ case because it seems that law enforcement has repeated what other people are saying instead of investigating for themselves. 

Wells’ mother Christine Wonsley said at the press conference Wednesday that since her son’s death, members of the public have degraded her family, called her racist and questioned fundraising efforts and her and her husband’s parenting. But she said the family is leaning into their faith, support of each other and support from the community. 

The family has asked for help from Crump, Sharpton, the NAACP and others because they haven’t received it from local authorities, she said. 

“It is our hope that our local authorities will do what they need to do,” Wonsley said, now that the preliminary autopsy results have been released.

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