An independent forensic examination of 18-year-old Nolan Xavier Wells has not determined how he died, leaving one of the summer’s most closely watched death investigations without a definitive medical conclusion while raising new questions that his family and attorneys say require additional investigation.
The preliminary report, released by civil rights attorney Ben Crump, lists both the cause and manner of Wells’ death as “undetermined, pending investigation.” The findings come nearly three weeks after Wells disappeared during a July 4 boating trip to Mississippi’s Horn Island. His body was recovered two days later.
“For these reasons, this pathologist cannot rule out if any intervening, nonaccidental factors contributed to or caused the death of Nolan Wells,” Crump said while reading from the preliminary report prepared by forensic pathologist Dr. Roger A. Mitchell Jr., the former chief medical examiner for the District of Columbia and current president of the National Medical Association.
According to Crump, the examination was funded through an initiative supported by former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
Mitchell’s report identifies several factors that limited the independent examination. By the time he conducted the second autopsy on July 10, Wells’ body had undergone significant decomposition and had already been subjected to the state’s initial autopsy, preventing a complete independent assessment.
According to the report, Mitchell, also former president of Howard University Hospital, noted a focal area of red discoloration in the soft tissue at the back of Wells’ head but said its cause could not be determined. The examination found no fractures or deep tissue injuries after additional dissections of the head, neck, torso, ribs, pelvis, back, arms and legs.
Crump also disclosed that certain neck structures examined during the state’s autopsy were not available during the independent examination.
“The throat was not received with the body. Therefore, this pathologist cannot rule out injury to the neck as a contributor or a cause of death,” Crump said, quoting the report.
The report also notes that the independent pathologist could not evaluate Wells’ lungs, stomach contents or certain other evidence because those organs had already been examined during the official autopsy, whose final results remain pending toxicology testing.
Standing beside Crump, Wells’ mother, Christine Wonsley, said her family continues to seek only one answer.
“There are so many people out in the public asking all of these questions, but the only question that we have is what happened to our son,” she said. “That is the only question.”
Wonsley said the family has endured public criticism while mourning their son.
“It has been absolutely difficult, which is why we’ve gone this route,” she said. “It is our hope that our local authorities will do what they need to do, because us having the preliminary autopsy results and hearing nothing from them, it’s heartbreaking, and it’s concerning.”
The late teen’s father, Elmore Wonsley, rejected suggestions that his son’s disappearance are a reflection of his character.
“We just want honesty. We want to know what happened to our son, because the things that you’re telling us, that’s not the character of our son,” he said. “We know our son.”
NAACP President Derrick Johnson sharply criticized what he described as shortcomings in the investigation.
“The narrative should not be, it was an accident before there was an investigation,” Johnson said. “The narrative should not be the words of individuals who went on a boat to the island with him, but they came without him, but with his cell phone, and you don’t investigate those individuals.”
Authorities have not publicly accused anyone of wrongdoing, and the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department has previously said investigators have found no evidence indicating foul play. Officials have said the investigation remains active while awaiting the final report from the Mississippi State Medical Examiner’s Office. The case is expected to be presented to a grand jury after the investigation is complete.
Crump urged anyone with photographs, videos or information from the July 4 gathering to come forward. He also announced that a $125,000 reward remains available for information that advances the investigation.
“We stand for truth no matter who it implicates or who it exonerates,” Crump said. “We stand for justice no matter who it convicts, or it acquits. And we stand for transparency.”
