A grand jury found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing in Nolan Wells’ death. His family says their fight for justice goes on

By Lauren Mascarenhas, Alisha Ebrahimji, CNN

(CNN) — A grand jury unanimously found there was no evidence to support bringing charges in the death of Nolan Wells, an 18-year-old who was found dead after a Fourth of July trip with friends off the coast of Mississippi.

The grand jury said in a report released Monday by the Jackson County District Attorney’s office that it found no criminal or racially motivated wrongdoing, after it conducted a comprehensive investigation involving witness testimony, physical and digital evidence, as well as GPS and cellphone data.

The grand jury “finds that the position of, the condition of, time of discovery, and location of Mr. Wells’ body is consistent with drowning,” it said.

The announcement comes after months of speculation about the circumstances of Wells’ death as photos circulated widely of the Black teen surrounded by White friends during the trip to Horn Island, a remote barrier island that is a popular holiday destination.

“There is absolutely no evidence to support the allegations that Nolan’s death and disappearance were racially motivated,” District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath said in a video statement released alongside the report.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the Wells family, said the grand jury’s decision is an attempt “to close the chapter on Nolan Wells’ death without getting to the truth.”

“This grand jury result leaves us with more questions than answers,” Crump said, citing bruises on Wells head and body that he said had not yet been explained.

In its report, the grand jury said there was bruising on the back of Wells’ head “which was not a fatal injury,” but the exact cause of the injury remained uncertain. It found “no evidence of any fatal injury or organic disease to Mr. Wells’ body,” it added.

“The cause of those injuries and their contribution to Nolan’s death remain unexplained,” Crump’s office said in a statement.

Wells’ body was found July 6 in the water near the coast of Horn Island. There were no immediate signs of trauma or foul play, Jackson County Coroner Bruce Lynd told CNN in July. But given the uncertain circumstances, Lynd’s office asked for a full autopsy at the state medical examiner’s office to determine Wells’ cause and manner of death.

The state’s autopsy was performed July 7, and a separate, out-of-state autopsy requested by Wells’ family — which described his manner of death as undetermined pending further investigation — was performed July 10.

Wells’ family has continued to press for transparency and answers throughout the investigation, amid speculation fueled against the backdrop of Mississippi’s fraught history of racial violence.

In his statement, Crump urged the district attorney’s office to release the state’s medical examiner’s full autopsy report and to keep the investigation open.

“Nolan’s family will not rest until we know what happened to him, and neither will we,” he said.

Grand jury review

The grand jury consisted of 13 men and 10 women from Jackson County, between the ages of 27 to 68, according to the report released by the district attorney.

Twelve jurors were identified as Caucasian, five as African American, two as Hispanic, two as Native American, one as Asian and one as “other.”

The jury was presented with a swath of information and evidence. The report notes 132 subpoenas were issued, and the jury heard from 43 witnesses, seven of whom were invited to testify before the jury.

The jury received multiple reports related to Wells’ cell phone, including a 261-page “Snapchat Conversation Report.”

The grand jury had access to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office’s full investigation file, the report notes. Jurors were presented with physical and digital evidence, interviews and recorded statements, images, videos, recordings, maps and GPS information.

The jury also heard from a forensic pathologist hired by Wells’ family to conduct an independent autopsy.

“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,” the report states.

The NAACP has called for the release of the full autopsy report from the state’s medical examiner and urged officials to make the investigative file public.

‘We’ll never stop’

Wells’ parents spoke alongside their legal team at a news conference Tuesday.

“Elmore and I do not believe that Nolan simply and accidentally drowned, and nobody saw anything, and no one knows anything,” Wells’ mother, Christine Wonsley, said. “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.”

Crump said a conclusion that Wells likely drowned fails to rule out “blunt force trauma,” a phrase the attorney and other members of Wells’ family’s legal team used to describe the bruising found on the back of the teen’s head.

Speaking at the news conference along Crump, attorney Lisa Park cited information related to Wells’ red and white blood cell count, which she said pointed to a time frame for when Wells could have sustained the head injury.

“We know, because there are no white blood cells, that this injury happened within four hours of his death,” Park said.

The grand jury report noted a witness saw Wells fall “awkwardly off the side of a boat” around 3:30 p.m. on July 4, after which he continued to socialize and appeared uninjured.

Wells’ family deserves more answers than the grand jury report has offered, and his legal team will continue to push for information, Crump said.

“We’ll never stop,” Crump chanted at the Tuesday news conference. “We’ll never stop until we get to the truth.”

“DA McIlrath accused us of inappropriately making this case about race,” he added. “I don’t know if race was a factor in Nolan’s death. I do know that we can’t accept ‘We’ll never know’ as his epithet.”

A fractured community

In the weeks since Wells’ body was discovered, questions around his manner of death had fueled conjecture and fractured a once tight-knit community.

Three of Wells’ friends – Warren Hudson, Jax Pitalo, and Morgan Seymour – had said they were on Horn Island as part of a 30-person boating party and Wells decided to stay behind when they went home, according to a letter from their attorneys. The letter denied their involvement in Wells’ disappearance or death.

“The narrative that three white boys and a Black boy went to an island and only white friends returned spread like wildfire,” the district attorney said. “This was false.”

“Nolan’s friends loved Nolan and Nolan loved them,” the district attorney said. “Nolan chose to stay on the island that day and there is not a scintilla of evidence to contradict that.”

Edward Paltzik, an attorney representing the friends, praised the grand jury’s findings. “We said it all along: Warren Hudson, Jax Pitalo, and Morgan Seymour were always completely innocent. There was never any doubt. They are terrific people,” Paltzik said in a post on X.

Speaking to CNN exclusively, Paltzik and Tyler Cox, an attorney also representing the friends, said the three men and their families were relieved by the grand jury’s findings and were taking time to process the information before determining their next steps. Both attorneys said they were surprised by how much information the report shared.

“This report is a game changer,” Paltzik said. “It’s a treasure trove of information.”

Cox told CNN Pitalo feels like he can breathe for the first time in 87 days. Cox said that Hudson has been dealing with dirty looks on campus, with some accosting him for his public connection to the case.

The grand jury acknowledged that if evidence emerges in the future “that suggests Mr. Wells’ death was non-accidental,” it should be presented to and taken into consideration, noting that there is no statute of limitations on homicide cases in Mississippi.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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CNN’s Celina Tebor, Holly Yan, Ryan Young, Lex Harvey and Kelly McCleary contributed to this report.