Independent autopsy for Mississippi 18-year-old is inconclusive

NEW YORK — A pathologist who conducted an independent autopsy after an 18-year-old Black man died during a boating trip in Mississippi was unable to determine a cause and manner of death, attorney Ben Crump said Wednesday.

The death of Nolan Xavier Wells, who went missing on July 4, has concerned civil rights leaders who have said they fear that the matter is not being adequately investigated by Mississippi authorities.

Wells had taken a boat trip to Horn Island, a barrier island in the Gulf of Mexico, with several White friends but did not return the mainland with them that day. His body was found in the water on July 6. Local officials said they believe Wells drowned.

But as state and local law enforcement officials continue their investigation, Wells’s parents have retained Crump’s law firm to conduct a parallel inquiry. As part of that probe, former NFL star Colin Kaepernick hired Roger A. Mitchell Jr., D.C.’s former chief medical examiner, to conduct an independent autopsy.

In his report released Wednesday, Mitchell said Wells’s cause and manner of death remained “undetermined pending investigation.” Mitchell wrote that the autopsy was complicated because he examined Wells’s body after the local medical examiner conducted a separate review.

Crump said that “based on the examination of the body, [Mitchell] cannot rule out foul play.”

The Jackson County Sheriff’s Department, which is leading the investigation, declined to comment. The sheriff’s office has said previously that it does not suspect foul play but continues to investigate Wells’s death.

Mitchell discovered an eight-to-12-inch area of “red discoloration in the deep soft tissues” on the back of Wells’s head, according to the report. That apparent injury warrants further scrutiny, said Crump, who unveiled the autopsy results during the NAACP’s national convention in Chicago.

There were no other fractures or deep-tissue issues discovered, Crump noted.

Decomposition and prior examination of some body parts affected Mitchell’s ability to confirm that Wells had drowned, he wrote in his report. A portion of Wells’s neck had been removed during the first autopsy, according to the report.

“It is assumed that the initial pathologist retained these structures for additional evaluation,” Mitchell’s autopsy report states.

Crump said his office is hopeful that Mitchell will be given access to the Mississippi medical examiner’s photographs and observations from closer to the time of Wells’s death.

In a statement, the Mississippi Medical Examiner’s Office declined to comment on the independent autopsy but said its own investigation remains “active and ongoing.”

“We understand the public’s interest in this case but we continue to urge everyone to remain patient and avoid making assumptions or drawing conclusions before the investigation is complete,” the statement said.

Wells’s parents are continuing to call for more answers about how their son died. They spoke alongside Crump at the news conference.

Christine Wonsley, Wells’s mother, said she remains unnerved that local investigators initially said they didn’t suspect foul play after her son’s body was discovered. Authorities at first presumed that Wells had drowned but have since emphasized that their investigation remains active.

NAACP President Derrick Johnson, who joined the family at Crump’s news conference, said, “We cannot allow another individual, particularly a young Black man’s death, to go uninvestigated.”

“We have seen this happen over the years not only in Mississippi but across the country,” Johnson said.

Wells, a high school football player who graduated last year, was an experienced swimmer who was familiar with Horn Island, according to his parents.

On July 4, he rode with his friends on a boat to the island, where videos show several hundred others had gathered to celebrate Independence Day.

Later that day, Wells’s friends returned to the mainland after an apparent mechanical issue arose with the boat, local officials have said. But Wells did not join his friends for the return trip. His friends told investigators that Wells wanted to stay behind.

Wonsely and her husband, Elmore Wonsley, have questioned whether their son would stay behind on the island without his friends. They have also said they want to know why Wells’s cellphone was discovered in the possession of one of his friends.

Warren Hudson, one of Wells’s friends who was on the boat, told the New York Post this week that the speculation about what happened that day is “hurtful.”

“There’s no facts out, just a lot of rumors,” Hudson told the publication. “That’s just how the internet is today. That’s really it, it’s horrible.”

On Wednesday, Crump said that he has a team of investigators trying to talk to people who were on the island the day Wells went missing. A $125,000 reward fund has been created to entice people to share information.

Crump’s investigators are attempting to fill in a timeline of what happened July 4. He said Wells was found “fully clothed” in the water.

“That is really significant to us because the last time we saw him in videos, he was without his shirt,” Crump said. “So at what point did he put on his shirt?”

Mitchell, who conducted the independent autopsy, concluded his report with a list of questions that he believes still need to be answered to help determine a cause of death: why Wells entered the water, whether there were any injuries to his neck and what the results of his toxicology report were.