The family of Nolan Wells is demanding more answers after a Mississippi grand jury found no evidence to bring charges in the Black teen's death.
Wells, 18, went missing on July 4 while on a boating trip with friends off the Mississippi Gulf Coast. His body was recovered two days later. In the months since, speculation has grown about how he disappeared and why his friends were so quick to leave without him.
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The grand jury found that Wells' death was "consistent with drowning," but civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Wells' family, said the report left them with more questions than answers. Crump also accused District Attorney Angel McIlrath of closing the investigation before determining what caused blunt force trauma to the back of Wells' body and head.
"The Mississippi District attorney in Jackson County, McIlrath, will have us accept these three words we'll never know and just move on," Crump said at a press conference with Wells' family. "But I say there are 3 different words what should come to the front of your mind when you think of Nolan Xavier Wells, and those 3 words are blunt force trauma."
An independent autopsy ordered by Wells' family found that the teen suffered apparent blunt force injuries prior to his death, but could not determine the cause or manner of death. Because the cause and manner of death were not yet conclusive, Crump said foul play could not be ruled out.
The case has sparked widespread suspicion, with some pointing to Mississippi's history of racial tension and the fact that everyone else in the group with Wells at the time of his disappearance was white. Speaking at Wells' funeral, Rev. Al Sharpton compared the case to the lynching of Emmett Till.
"The reason that a lot of people across the nation are looking at this Nolan situation is because we're looking at the history in Mississippi," Sharpton said. "We can't have someone in law enforcement saying there was no foul play before there was an investigation."
Sharpton, actor Tyler Perry, and former NFL player Terrell Owens are offering a $125,000 reward for any information leading to an arrest and conviction in connection with Wells' death.
