SerpApi.Org
Prominent civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump will join the family of Nolan Xavier Wells at a news conference Wednesday to announce the preliminary findings of an independent autopsy on the student-athlete.
The announcement will be made during the 117th NAACP National Convention.
Wells, 18, was reported missing after he did not return home from a Fourth of July trip to Horn Island.
The Black teen traveled to the island by boat with at least three white friends. His friends returned without him, telling his family he had decided to stay behind to talk with a girl and other friends.
The friends returned with Wells’ cellphone and keys, something his mother, Christine Wells-Wonsley, and others question, saying it is improbable that the teenager would remain on the island without his phone. She also said messages had been deleted from the phone.
Two days later, a National Park Service ranger found Wells’ body off the island’s northwest tip.
Earlier this month, the NAACP National Board of Directors adopted a resolution offering condolences to Wells’ family. The resolution also called on local, state and federal authorities to conduct a thorough and transparent investigation into Wells’ disappearance and death.
The press conference is set at 8 a.m. Wednesday. Crump will be joined by Derrick Johnson, presidents of and chief executive officer of the NAACP, and the Wells’ family at the news conference.
Since the death of student-athlete, former NFL wide receiver Terrell Owens, the Rev. Al Sharpton and actor and producer Tyler Perry have contributed a total of $125,000 for information that leads to an arrest and conviction in the case.
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