LIVE: Nolan Wells death investigation: Attorney Ben Crump providing update
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the family of Nolan Wells, was scheduled to give an update on the case on Thursday.
Crump is holding a news conference during the National Urban League’s annual conference in Nashville about Wells and two other young Black men who died in separate, disputed circumstances.
The Jackson County Chancery Court issued subpoenas Tuesday to Life360, Snap, Meta Platforms, TikTok and WhatsApp at the request of Wells’ mother, Christine Wonsley.
The subpoenas require all records, data and documents related to Wells’ accounts to be released within 21 days.
The requests stem from claims that social media sites and posts were altered or deleted after Wells was found dead at Horn Island off the coast of Ocean Springs.
The Jackson County Sheriff’s Department said Wells’ friends had his cellphone when he went missing.
Wonsley reported Wells missing after he went on a boat trip with friends and did not return home. His friends said Wells chose to stay behind with a woman on the island, who has not been officially identified.
A preliminary independent autopsy listed Wells’ cause of death as undetermined pending further investigation. Local law enforcement and the Jackson County district attorney said their findings would not be released immediately to the public, but instead would be turned over to a grand jury.
Jackson County District Attorney Angel McIlrath said that was standard practice in any investigation where the cause of death was not natural or clearly accidental.
The Jackson County sheriff initially said he believed Wells’ death was an accidental drowning, but the case remained an active investigation.
In a request to use sonar scans during the search for Wells, the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources said in a document that Wells had been drinking heavily, though no attribution was listed.
