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The president and chief executive officer of the NAACP slammed Mississippi officials over the investigation into the death of Nolan Xavier Wells of Ocean Springs during a press conference at the NAACP convention in Chicago on Wednesday.
“We’re not accusing anyone of anything other than the state of Mississippi and local officials,” said NAACP president Derrick Johnson, an attorney. “We’re accusing them of being derelict in their duties to follow up and to ensure that, regardless of what happened, that there was a proper investigation.”
After Wells’ body was found on July 6, he said he read reports where “law enforcement officials are repeating what individuals are saying, as opposed to investigating the individuals who gave you the information because you don’t know who was involved or not involved.”
He went on to say that “the narrative should not be it was an accident before there was an investigation.”
Johnson made the remarks before civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump announced the results of an independent autopsy.
MS officials respond
In talks with the Sun Herald, Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter referred to the death as “tragic,” but did not say that there was no foul play involved.
The sheriff said again Wednesday that the death investigation is ongoing and active.
However, Jackson County Coroner Bruce Lynd Jr. confirmed that in the aftermath of finding Wells’ body, he did tell the family he “didn’t see any immediate signs of foul play, but, given the circumstances, we referred the case to the state medical examiner’s office so that they could do a full in-depth autopsy and make a full determination on the cause and manner of death.”
Preliminary findings of the state's autopsy are being held until toxicology results are received.
Wells, 18, was reported missing after he did not return home from a Fourth of July trip to Horn Island. Wells, who was Black, road no a boat to the island with white friends.
The friends returned with Wells’ cellphone and keys.
Wells’ parents, Elmore and Christine Wonsley, don’t think the teen would have stayed on an island miles from shore without his phone or his keys.
Wells’ body was found two days after he went missing.
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