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NOLAN WELLS’ MOM BREAKS DOWN AFTER GRAND JURY REPORT RELEASE — “LACK OF EMPATHY” LEAVES HER HEARTBROKEN

Posted by Team - September 23, 2026

Nolan Wells’ Mom Tears Up Over Release of Grand Jury Report and Says District Attorney ‘Showed a Lack of Empathy’

“Last night was a reminder that our son’s life does not matter to those who hold positions that are supposed to serve and protect,” Christine Wonsley said

In the hours after it was announced that a Mississippi grand jury had concluded there was insufficient evidence to warrant charges in the death of Nolan Wells, his family expressed doubt about the panel’s findings.

“The only thing we want to hear, and the only thing we have asked for since day one, is an honest, transparent, fair investigation,” Wells’ mother, Christine Wonsley, said at a news conference Tuesday, Sept. 22, at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest, Ga. “Treat our son the way you would treat your child or someone you love. And unfortunately, we do not feel we’ve received that.”

Wonsley said she received a text message at 7:54 p.m. local time Monday, Sept. 21, from Jackson County District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath, who oversaw the case, informing her that the grand jury report had been filed.

“Shortly after this text message, she released the information via Facebook,” Wonsley said. “To me, that action showed a lack of empathy and a need to get this case done and over with.”

“Last night was a reminder that our son’s life does not matter to those who hold positions that are supposed to serve and protect the public,” Wonsley said through tears. “Nolan is loved. He is cherished. He is honored. And he did not deserve to have his life taken away so suddenly.”

McIlrath released a 15-minute video statement alongside the grand jury report Monday evening. In the video, she addressed what she described as false narratives, including claims that she had withheld the results of Wells’ official autopsy and toxicology reports from his family.

McIlrath said that shortly after receiving the reports, she contacted Wonsley directly. When she did not hear back, she said she shared the results with one of Wonsley’s attorneys in Mississippi.

Wells traveled with friends by boat to Horn Island off Mississippi’s Gulf Coast on July 4. When he did not return home that evening, a friend who had been with him contacted Wonsley, who then notified authorities. Multiple agencies began searching for him and his body was found on the northwestern tip of Horn Island on July 6.

The case quickly gained national attention and spurred widespread speculation on social media about what may have led to Wells’ death, why his friends returned to the mainland without him and how he could have disappeared amid a bustling party.

Nolan Wells and his parents.
Nolan Wells and his parents.GoFundMe

Some of those who traveled with him to Horn Island on July 4 have spoken out publicly. They said Wells was among a group that traveled via three boats and that he chose to remain on the island after meeting a young woman.

Wells’ phone was on the boat that took him to the island and returned to the mainland with his friends — and both his parents and their attorneys have questioned why he would have remained on the island without his friends or his phone.

The grand jury’s report found that it was not unusual or suspicious for people to return from the island on boats they did not take to get there. The report also stated that Wells’ phone was not the only one to travel back to the mainland without its owner that day.

The grand jury found no evidence of criminal conduct and said that, based on the position and condition of Wells’ body, as well as the time and location it was discovered, his death was “consistent with drowning.”

The report noted that both the state’s chief medical examiner and the forensic pathologist hired by the Wells family to conduct an independent autopsy said the cause and manner of death were undetermined and that drowning was a “diagnosis of exclusion.”

The grand jury report said that the state autopsy and the independent autopsy found bruising on the back of Wells’ head but couldn’t determine his cause of death. The official autopsy results have not been released to the public.

At Tuesday’s news conference, Wonsley questioned how, given those findings, the grand jury concluded that Wells had accidentally drowned.

“How can a jury come to the conclusion of drowning, despite knowing that there was trauma to his body, and despite hearing many inconsistencies,” she said. “Elmore and I do not believe that Nolan simply and accidentally drowned, and nobody saw anything, and no one knows anything.”

Her attorney Ben Crump, who echoed Wonsley’s sentiments, went on to say he will not go “тιт-for-tat” with McIlrath, who said Crump had inappropriately made the case about race and shared unverified information.

He called her statements “distractions,” while maintaining that he does not believe the state’s investigation was exhaustive.

“Jackson County District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath will have you accept that Nolan Wells’ death can be summarized in three words: We’ll never know,” he said. “But Nolan’s family offers three other words: We’ll never stop.”

According to the district attorney, the grand jury heard from 43 witnesses and also reviewed physical and digital evidence, GPS and cellphone data, correspondence between the district attorney and Wells’ family’s legal team as well as the investigative file from the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office.

McIlrath said in her video statement that there was no evidence to support allegations that Wells’ disappearance and death were racially motivated.

The grand jury report acknowledges that there is no statute of limitations in Mississippi for homicide cases. It states that if credible evidence emerges suggesting Wells’ death was not accidental, the matter should be presented to a Jackson County grand jury for further consideration.

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Nolan Wells’ Mom Tears Up Over Release of Grand Jury Report and Says District Attorney ‘Showed a Lack of Empathy’ “Last night was a reminder that our…

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