Mississippi grand jury declines charges in Nolan Wells death

newsSep 22, 202670291

A Jackson County, Mississippi grand jury unanimously decided not to bring criminal charges in the July 4 death of 18-year-old Nolan Wells, finding “no credible evidence” that anyone who rode to or from Horn Island engaged in criminal conduct. The jury met from September 14 to September 18, issued 132 subpoenas, considered testimony from 43 witnesses and investigators, and reviewed physical and digital evidence including mobile phone data, photographs, videos, GPS data, and an independent investigation by Wells’s family. The grand jury said the position, condition, time of discovery, and location of Wells’s body are consistent with drowning and described drowning as a diagnosis of exclusion; both the family-hired pathologist and the state chief medical examiner previously listed the cause and manner of death as undetermined. The family’s autopsy, performed by Dr Roger A. Mitchell Jr, found recent unexplained blunt force injuries to the back of the head and other areas of the back, a finding the grand jury report noted but did not interpret as proof of criminal conduct. The report said allegations against occupants of the Triton, the Palm Beach, and the Tideline boats were “not based in truth” and attributed misidentification and rumors to false assertions about who was on the island that day. Family attorney Ben Crump criticized the grand jury finding, saying unanswered questions remain and signaling the family will continue seeking clarification about Wells’s death. As a result of the grand jury report, no indictments will be filed and local prosecutors will not pursue criminal charges in the case at this time.

Sassy0210

@sassy0210.bsky.social

Mississippi Goddam. "Those who commit the murders write the reports." --Ida B. Wells Justice for Nolan Xavier Wells 🕊️ abcnews.com/US/criminal-...

634h ago

Sassy02105

It truly were a drowning, all the body parts would have made it to the independent autopsy.

Rhymers gonna RibbityRhyme🐸3

'Some of those who work forces...'🐸

Stephen James2

"Based on all the evidence they received."

NurseGenius1

Nolan and his family deserve justice. Mississippi Goddam is right

hayatoijuin.bsky.social1

Reads like a script from a bad teen horror movie left on the cutting room floor, but a young person is still deceased Something happened that day with too many witnesses to remain a secret for long Whether one day or a thousand days from now the truth will come out We remember And wait

Freethinkers United For Change

@freethinkersunite.bsky.social

So a completely healthy 18-year old MAGICALLY dies for no reason while in the company of hundreds of White people? The grand jury's only explanation is drowning. No reasoning for the head trauma! No explanation of how the body wasn't there on the 5th! How stupid people reach stupid conclusions!

705h ago

DrAtomic2

People drown everyday at the beach. If they didn't have evidence that someone hurt him, there's not a lot of evidence to charge anyone is there?

Seditious Veteran1

I feel bad for the grand jury. They made a decision based solely on evidence presented. What they had is what they had. The 3 white boys that went over with him may not have anything to do with his death. It could have been anyone that was still on the island. Yes, it could have been an accident.

C.A. Dickson1

sounds totally reasonable amirite?? like all those recent ✌️suicides✌️ from people hanging themselves in public trees

jlm617.bsky.social1

Big thanks to the MAGA faithful for successfully trading a once-functioning democracy for a reality TV circus. You’ve let division tear this country apart, treating a literal tragedy like a game while real people pay the price. Congratulations on burning down the house just to rule the ashes.

Sailor Michael

@sailormichael.bsky.social

I urge you all to watch this if you want to know everything. There are things that are not being discussed and why I am keeping my mouth shut: LIVE: Ben Crump, Nolan Wells’ family to hold press conference following grand jury finding www.wlox.com/2026/09/22/l...

293h ago

Mull5

That's some grade A bs. Ain't no damn way that young man drowned. Weak ass jury.

Ellen Enders2

There has to be a witness.

gracenhope.bsky.social2

This family deserves to have the AG finishing the job take care of yourself

Kim K 🏳️‍🌈1

Thank you for sharing this.

LL1

People need to read The Barn about Emmet Till and know, this will be a long arc of justice for Nolan Wells- I assume you are very close to the family and please take care and if you can, let them know they are not alone-this is the only thing i like about social media, is the community like you ⚖️

THEE NWMagpie - I Don't Argue With Ppl John Brown Would've Shot1

My God. Thank you for posting this, sir. This is horrifying.

Reincarnated! I'm a Star Gazer (aka David)

@ncred.bsky.social

After Nolan Wells case comes back from a grand jury with no indictments, Hope Giselle tells us what the next steps are. We can not stop saying his name. #JusticeforNolanWells #BlackSky

193h ago

Zee207702🇨🇦🍁🍃🎃🐈‍⬛

@zee207702.bsky.social

The white racists in charge, white washed this young Man’s murder! It was Murder! www.cbc.ca/news/world/g...

224h ago

🦋 Aldamar 🦋 📎🇺🇸🇩🇰🇺🇦🇨🇦🇲🇽2

Definitely murder. Give it time, often people involved think they’re in the clear and start talking or getting rid of evidence. 🤞🏻

Kate1

Absolutely! My heart breaks for his family.

🇺🇸𝕀𝕟𝕕𝕪 ℝ𝕖𝕗𝕦𝕘𝕖𝕖🇺🇸 ᵀʳᵘᵐᵖˡᵉˢˢ ᵁˢᴬ

@indyrefugee.bsky.social

Let’s do a public Q&A with the members of the grand jury in the Nolan Xavier Wells case. Black Americans didn’t stop trusting the decisions of our legal system for no reason. The legal system has been found over and over to have covered for murderers. Proof required.

124h ago

Johnathan Perkins, Esq.

@johnathanperk.bsky.social

Grand juries are 1-sided DA presentations—so easy to bring charges they say “a grand jury can indict a ham sandwich.” Yet, a grand jury found 0 evidence of criminal wrongdoing when the Nolan Wells case was presented. i.e., DA didn’t want charges—didn’t even try to get the grand jury to see crimes.

85h ago

Lindsay Beyerstein

@beyerstein.bsky.social

Al Sharpton is still pushing the false narratives that got him sued for defamation. He keeps claiming that Nolan was one Black kid with three white kids, when in fact Nolan was one of at least three Black kids in a core group of thirty.

154h ago

Lindsay Beyerstein5

Sharpton is claiming that Nolan was filmed arguing with someone. In fact, the video shows another Black kid with the group, Tracetin, yelling that he wants to get off the boat and continue scrapping with some third party. This version was confirmed by Tracestin and others who saw it.

Lindsay Beyerstein2

This is the press conference from about 10 weeks ago.

The Emancipator

@theemancipator.org

Attorney Ben Crump skewered a Mississippi grand jury finding ‘no evidence’ of racial or criminal wrongdoing in the death of 18-year-old Nolan Wells, saying unanswered questions remain about how the Black Mississippi teen died.

74h ago

4WheelMe

@4wheelworkout.blacksky.app

Mychal speaking on Nolan Wells Ms. Rachel speaking on genocide. This new generation of educators are not playing.

93h ago

BlackskyNews 🗞️

@blackskynews.blacksky.app

LIVE: Attorneys and Family of Nolan Wells Press conference following Grand Jury announcement www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Gg3... #BlackskyNews #JUSTICEForNolanWells

33h ago

Y’allsey

@aisling206.bsky.social

Even if Nolan Wells did drown, what kind of “friends” abandon a friend’s body on a beach and leave him there? And then tell nobody that he is missing or dead? Smh.

63h ago

Msviintage

@msviintage.bsky.social

I didn’t hear about the “No True Bill” in the Nolan Wells case until this morning. I hope those folks never know rest.

33h ago

Red (Tony)

@redcyberdragon.net

Blunt force trauma, shady behavior from witnesses and “friends” and, no charges? There’d be an indictment if the races were swapped. #nolanwells #justicefornolan

13h ago

kevin

@musingsbykevin.bsky.social

As a Black man who has experienced the oppressive racialized animus in this country for six decades I expected this decision. Racism underpins America. Our children and our lives matter! Grand jury declines to charge anyone in death of Nolan Wells, DA says - Mississippi Today

25h ago

3 sources

theguardian.comMississippi grand jury decides not to charge anyone in death of Nolan Wells npr.orgGrand jury finds no evidence of criminal conduct in the death of Nolan Wells apnews.comMississippi grand jury finds no cause for charges in the July death of Nolan Wells

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Mississippi grand jury declines charges in Nolan Wells death

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