{"id":818,"date":"2026-07-24T23:14:52","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T23:14:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=818"},"modified":"2026-07-24T23:14:52","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T23:14:52","slug":"death-of-black-teen-nolan-wells-to-go-to-mississippi-grand-jury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=818","title":{"rendered":"Death of Black Teen Nolan Wells to Go to Mississippi Grand Jury"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p>By Andrew Hay<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>July 24 (Reuters) &#8211; A grand jury in Mississippi will review \u2060the \u2060circumstances around the death of Nolan \u2060Wells before the evidence is made public in the case of the\u00a0Black teenager whose \u200bbody was found in the water off an island he had visited with white friends, a local prosecutor said this week, but \u200cas of Friday had not said when \u200cjurors would take up the matter.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=816\">Trump Signs Executive Order Related to Smithsonian Institution, White House Says<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>This week, an attorney for the teenager&#8217;s family said a private autopsy could not \u2060rule out foul \u2060play. The family&#8217;s calls for answers have\u00a0been amplified by civil rights leaders and social \u200bmedia, feeding a debate about the safety of young Black Americans in predominantly white environments.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>The district attorney for Jackson County said that, as a matter of routine, case information would be withheld from the public to protect the &#8220;integrity&#8221; of the grand jury which will decide \u200bif there is evidence a crime may have taken place and someone should be charged.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>&#8220;Every death in the \u2060county \u2014 \u2060except those of natural causes and \u2060non-criminal car wrecks \u2014 \u200bis presented to your grand jury,&#8221; Jackson County District Attorney Angel Myers Mcllrath\u00a0said in a video message on \u200bThursday. &#8220;Nolan&#8217;s case is being handled the \u2060same way.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>The prosecutor did not respond to questions from Reuters about when jurors would be convened and what kinds of evidence they would consider.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>She promised a thorough, careful and uncompromised investigation into a case that has become a flashpoint for race relations in America.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Wells, 18, died after he went to a Fourth of July party on Horn Island with three white friends he \u2060had known since high school in nearby Ocean Springs, Mississippi.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>The three friends returned to the mainland \u2060without him and were in possession of his mobile phone, according to the family&#8217;s lawyer Ben Crump.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=814\">US Appeals Court Blocks Part of Texas Children\u2019s Online Safety Law<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>A pathologist who conducted an independent autopsy of Wells on behalf of his family could not draw conclusions and requested further information from the state medical examiner&#8217;s initial autopsy, Crump told a press conference earlier this week.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Wells&#8217; mother, Christine Wonsley, said Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter told her less than an hour after her son&#8217;s body was recovered on July 6 that he believed the death was accidental and he did not see foul play.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Ledbetter did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Crump, civil rights leader Al Sharpton and some Democratic lawmakers \u2060have said the case highlights the lack of scrutiny given to deaths of young Black men.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves, a Republican, said in a statement on Friday that authorities were conducting a thorough investigation and Crump and Sharpton were &#8220;stoking division for political gain.&#8221;\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Crump&#8217;s office, and Sharpton, did not immediately respond to requests for \u200bcomment. There was no one available for comment at Myers Mcllrath&#8217;s office.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>(Reporting by Andrew Hay \u200bin New Mexico; editing by Donna Bryson and David Gregorio)<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=812\">U.S. Small Businesses File Lawsuit Challenging Trump\u2019s New \u2018Forced Labor\u2019 Tariffs<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><b>Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters<\/b>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>US News is a recognized leader in college, grad school, hospital, mutual fund, and car rankings. Track elected officials, research health conditions, and find news you can use in politics, business, health, and education.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":817,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[44,115,8],"class_list":["post-818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top-news","tag-crime","tag-mississippi","tag-sign-in-to-manage-your-newsletters"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Death of Black Teen Nolan Wells to Go to Mississippi Grand Jury - Office Moving America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=818\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Death of Black Teen Nolan Wells to Go to Mississippi Grand Jury - Office Moving America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"US News is a recognized leader in college, grad school, hospital, mutual fund, and car rankings. Track elected officials, research health conditions, and find news you can use in politics, business, health, and education.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=818\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Office Moving America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-24T23:14:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=818#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=818\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/953f33efe585ac76cdf8428d434d3061\"},\"headline\":\"Death of Black Teen Nolan Wells to Go to Mississippi Grand Jury\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-24T23:14:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=818\"},\"wordCount\":543,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=818#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/65e0d577af3781b89b8f32d1715939d9.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"crime\",\"Mississippi\",\"Sign in to manage your newsletters \u00bb\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Top News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=818#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=818\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=818\",\"name\":\"Death of Black Teen Nolan Wells to Go to Mississippi Grand Jury - Office Moving America\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=818#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=818#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/65e0d577af3781b89b8f32d1715939d9.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-24T23:14:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/953f33efe585ac76cdf8428d434d3061\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=818#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=818\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=818#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/65e0d577af3781b89b8f32d1715939d9.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/65e0d577af3781b89b8f32d1715939d9.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":533,\"caption\":\"A photo of Nolan Wells is displayed on stage where Ben Crump, a lawyer for the family of Nolan Wells announces the results of an independent autopsy of the young Black man whose body was found on an island off the coast of Mississippi after he travelled there over the Fourth of July weekend, during a press conference at the NAACP Convention in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., July 22, 2026. REUTERS\\\/Jim Vondruska\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?p=818#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Death of Black Teen Nolan Wells to Go to Mississippi Grand Jury\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Office Moving America\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/953f33efe585ac76cdf8428d434d3061\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/officemovingamerica.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Death of Black Teen Nolan Wells to Go to Mississippi Grand Jury - Office Moving America","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=818","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Death of Black Teen Nolan Wells to Go to Mississippi Grand Jury - Office Moving America","og_description":"US News is a recognized leader in college, grad school, hospital, mutual fund, and car rankings. Track elected officials, research health conditions, and find news you can use in politics, business, health, and education.","og_url":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=818","og_site_name":"Office Moving America","article_published_time":"2026-07-24T23:14:52+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=818#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=818"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/#\/schema\/person\/953f33efe585ac76cdf8428d434d3061"},"headline":"Death of Black Teen Nolan Wells to Go to Mississippi Grand Jury","datePublished":"2026-07-24T23:14:52+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=818"},"wordCount":543,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=818#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/65e0d577af3781b89b8f32d1715939d9.jpg","keywords":["crime","Mississippi","Sign in to manage your newsletters \u00bb"],"articleSection":["Top News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=818#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=818","url":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=818","name":"Death of Black Teen Nolan Wells to Go to Mississippi Grand Jury - Office Moving America","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=818#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=818#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/65e0d577af3781b89b8f32d1715939d9.jpg","datePublished":"2026-07-24T23:14:52+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/#\/schema\/person\/953f33efe585ac76cdf8428d434d3061"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=818#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=818"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=818#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/65e0d577af3781b89b8f32d1715939d9.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/65e0d577af3781b89b8f32d1715939d9.jpg","width":800,"height":533,"caption":"A photo of Nolan Wells is displayed on stage where Ben Crump, a lawyer for the family of Nolan Wells announces the results of an independent autopsy of the young Black man whose body was found on an island off the coast of Mississippi after he travelled there over the Fourth of July weekend, during a press conference at the NAACP Convention in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., July 22, 2026. REUTERS\/Jim Vondruska"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=818#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Death of Black Teen Nolan Wells to Go to Mississippi Grand Jury"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/","name":"Office Moving America","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/#\/schema\/person\/953f33efe585ac76cdf8428d434d3061","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/officemovingamerica.com"],"url":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=818"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/818\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}