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The results of an independent autopsy into the death of Nolan Xavier Wells will be released Wednesday morning, the family’s attorney says.
The preliminary findings are set to be made public during a news conference held at the annual NAACP National Convention in Chicago, according to the civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the family. Wells’ parents are expected to attend.
Crump has vowed to conduct his own investigation into the circumstances of the teenager's disappearance, which followed a July 4 boat trip with friends to an island off the coast of Mississippi. Wells did not return to the mainland with his friends. His body was found floating off the island’s coast two days later.
The Mississippi State Medical Examiner’s Office conducted its own autopsy but has yet to release the results.
The second autopsy was arranged by the family and Crump, and paid for by former NFL player Colin Kaepernick. Crump said it would determine if Wells “had any physical injuries to his body beyond drowning.”
The still-unknown circumstances around Wells’ death have touched off rampant online speculation and prompted calls from Black leaders for transparency from local authorities.
Wells, who was Black, had traveled to the island with a group of high school friends, all of whom are white.
A reward of $125,000 — jointly funded by the Rev. Al Sharpton, actor and producer Tyler Perry and former NFL player Terrell Owens — is now being offered in exchange for information leading to an arrest and conviction in connection with the death.
The autopsy announcement comes two days after Wells was laid to rest in his hometown of Ocean Springs, Mississippi.
In his eulogy, Sharpton lamented the “inconsistencies and unanswered questions” that had placed a dark cloud over the grieving family.
He questioned why Wells’ friends had left him behind, taken his phone and keys and failed to report him missing to police. And he suggested local investigators had spoken prematurely in statements to the press indicating that no crime was suspected.
“The reason that a lot of people across the nation are looking at this Nolan situation is because we’re looking at the history in Mississippi,” Sharpton added. “We can’t have someone in law enforcement saying there was no foul play before there was an investigation.”
Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter said initial interviews suggested Wells chose to stay on the island and that his friends believed he would get a ride with someone else. He has said the friends were cooperating with the investigation, which remains ongoing.
“We are trying to be respectful and collaborative as much as we can,” Crump said. “But it’s always troublesome to all of us when these investigations just take forever.”
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