Nolan Wells Family Lawyer Fires Back After DA Announces No Charges Will Be Filed in Teen’s Death
Posted by Ryan Mitchell - September 23, 2026
After it was announced that no charges will be filed in the death of Nolan Wells following the teenager’s disappearance on Mississippi’s Horn Island, the family’s attorney has fired back.
Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump — who has been leading the family’s legal team — said in a statement issued Monday, September 21, that those trying to close the investigation on the 18-year-old’s death are doing so “without getting to the bottom of what caused the blunt force trauma to the back of his head and body,” per TMZ.
Earlier Monday, Jackson County District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath released a video statement saying, “The narrative that three white boys and a Black boy went to an island, and only three white friends returned, spread like wildfire. This was false.”
McIlrath said Wells went to Horn Island on July 4 with friends and “connected” with more people there. “There is absolutely no evidence to support the allegations that Nolan’s disappearance and death were racially motivated,” she stated.
Per TMZ, Crump released the results of Wells’ second and final independent autopsy, which stated that his cause and manner of death were undetermined.
The Grand Jury Report released Monday stated, “Both the State of Mississippi Chief Medical Examiner and Dr. [redacted] opined that the cause and manner of Mr. Wells’ death is undetermined and that drowning is a diagnosis of exclusion.”
As for the bruising, the report stated that it was determined not to be “a fatal injury.”
“Further, the Grand Jury found no evidence of any fatal injury or organic disease to Mr. Wells’ body,” the report stated.
Ultimately, the Grand Jury found no evidence that a crime was committed and voted “No True Bill,” dismissing the case.
As Globe reported, Wells traveled to Horn Island with friends on the morning of July 4. He was last seen near the island around 3 p.m., and he was found ᴅᴇᴀᴅ on July 6.
Wells’ friends have maintained that the Mississippi college football player opted to stay on Horn Island with an unknown female despite the others getting on a boat to head back to the mainland at around 4:30 p.m.
However, Wells’ parents have pushed back, saying that it would be unlike their son to do so. The friends who accompanied him to Horn Island retained legal representation.
Many have said that race has played a factor in how the death of Wells, who was Black, was handled. His friends are white.
During a sit-down interview published August 10 on The Officer Tatum YouTube channel, Warren Hudson, Jax Pitalo and Morgan Seymour — alongside their lawyer Edward Andrew Paltzik — spoke about the aftermath of the tragedy.
“I wish that none of this would’ve ever happened,” Pitalo said. “I wish Nolan could still be here with us today.”
After it was announced that no charges will be filed in the death of Nolan Wells following the teenager’s disappearance on Mississippi’s Horn Island, the family’s attorney has fired…
