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The family of Nolan Wells has pushed back after a grand jury determined that there was no evidence to warrant charges in his death.
Wells, 18, a Black college student, was found dead after a July 4 boating party on an island off the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
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Wells → see → Coast
District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath, who has overseen the investigation into the 18-year-old's death, announced the grand jury's findings late Monday.
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who → oversee → findings
The move came after months of intense speculation about how Wells went missing from the bustling party and why the friends who ferried him to Horn Island left without him.
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who → come → him
The grand jury found no evidence of criminal conduct, adding that based on various factors, including the position and condition of Wells' body when found two days after he was last seen, his death was 'consistent with drowning.'
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death → find → drowning
Although the state medical examiner's office's autopsy results haven't been made public, the grand jury report said that it and a separate autopsy conducted by a forensic pathologist hired by Wells´ family found bruising on the back of his head but couldn´t determine the cause of death.
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it → make → death
Wells's mother, Christine Wonsley, said at a news conference Tuesday that she didn't understand how the grand jury concluded that her son had accidentally drowned given the autopsy findings.
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son → say → findings
'How can a jury come to the conclusion of drowning, despite knowing that there was trauma to his body, and despite hearing many inconsistencies?' she said.
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she → come → inconsistencies
Noah Wells's body was found after the 18-year-old football player and his friends were on a boating trip off of the Mississippi Gulf Coast near Horn Island for the Fourth of July
Wells's parents said they cannot understand why the grand jury determined that there was no evidence to warrant charges in the 18-years-old boy
Wells's parents, Christine and Elmore Wonsley, previously challenged the accounts given by their son's friends about what happened on the day he died
The investigation has led to rampant speculation and suspicion as people grapple with Mississippi's history of racial tension and what it means to be a Black person in a majority white setting.
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it → find → setting
Attorneys for friends of Wells who are white and have been the subject of online rumors and accusations hailed the report's findings, with one saying his client can now properly grieve.
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client → hail → findings
During its investigation into whether crimes were committed, the grand jury issued 132 subpoenas and heard from 43 witnesses through direct testimony, sworn statements and recorded interviews, according to the report.
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jury → commit → report
It weighed evidence, including mobile phone data and forensic reports, videos and GPS data.
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It → weigh → data
Lawyers for Wells's family, including civil rights attorney Ben Crump, said the grand jury's report yielded more questions than answers.
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report → include → answers
They also accused the district attorney of ending the investigation despite not determining what caused blunt force trauma to the back of Wells's head and body.
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what → accuse → head
'All other causes must be ruled out prior to certifying a death as drowning,' Crump, whose team released the final version of the independent autopsy report Tuesday, said at the news conference.
Christine Wonsley, said: 'Last night was a reminder that our son's life does not matter to those who hold positions that are supposed to serve and protect the public'
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that → rule → public
The family of Wells, 18, cannot make sense of the grand jury's ruling that there was no evidence to warrant charges
'
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family → make → charges
What is another cause the district attorney failed to rule out?
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attorney → fail → ?
Common sense tells you that this child did not just drown.'
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child → tell → you
A witness testified to the grand jury that he saw Wells slip awkwardly off the side of a boat around 3.30pm on July 4, but that Wells continued to socialize after and didn't appear injured.
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Wells → testify → July
The panel said it couldn't determine whether the fall caused the bruising on the teens body.
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fall → say → body
Wonsley said she was informed of the grand jury's findings only minutes before McIlrath posted a video about them on her office's Facebook page, and that this lacked empathy.
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this → say → empathy
'Last night was a reminder that our son's life does not matter to those who hold positions that are supposed to serve and protect the public,' Wonsley said.
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Wonsley → matter → public
'Nolan is loved.
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Nolan → love → ?
He is cherished.
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He → cherish → ?
He is honored.
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He → honor → ?
And he did not deserve to have his life taken away so suddenly.
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life → deserve → ?
Crump and others renewed their request Tuesday for the US Department of Justice to conduct an independent investigation, and called on McIlrath to release the investigation file and the state medical examiner's full autopsy report.
Kristen Clarke, general counsel for the NAACP and a former head of the DOJ's Civil Rights Division, said it would make sense for the Justice Department to open an investigation given that the island is a federally maintained and patrolled barrier island.
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island → renew → investigation
Wells's death garnered national attention, with his heartbroken family calling for an investigation into the tragedy despite law enforcement's determination that his death involved no foul play
Lawyers representing three of Wells's friends - Morgan Seymour, Jax Pitalo and Warren Hudson - deny he was the only black kid on the island as Hostin had claimed
At Wells's funeral, the Reverent Al Sharpton invoked the state's racist history during his eulogy, including the lynching of Emmett Till and assassination of Medgar Evers.
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Sharpton → garner → Evers
'Mississippi's history painfully teaches us exactly why families should never be expected to simply accept unanswered questions surrounding the death of a young Black person,' Sharpton said in a statement Tuesday.
'Transparency and accountability matter.
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Transparency → teach → statement
The truth matters.
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truth → matter → ?
Nolan's life mattered.'
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life → matter → ?
Shortly after Wells was found dead, Jackson County sheriff's officials said investigators didn't suspect foul play, sparking widespread concerns about whether law enforcement would conduct a thorough investigation.
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enforcement → find → investigation
McIlrath repeatedly promised a fair and thorough investigation into his death.
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McIlrath → promise → death
In her 15-minute video announcing the grand jury findings, McIlrath expressed frustration about inaccurate speculation about what happened to Wells.
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what → announce → Wells
She also said lawyers for Wells's family told her office last month that their own investigation found no evidence of crimes.
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investigation → say → crimes
'What I cannot accept, what I cannot ignore, is that false narratives that Nolan's death was somehow racially motivated, and that this is a case of another young Black man denied justice by a racist, corrupt system, were perpetuated and allowed to spread.
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this → accept → system
There is not a shred of evidence to support these narratives,' she said.
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she → be → narratives
The grand jury addressed the public's concerns and dismissed rumors, determining that Wells was not the only person of color on Horn Island on the day of his death as speculated
Christine and Elmore Wonsley previously challenged the accounts given by their son's friends about what happened on the day he died
Attorneys for three of Wells's friends who have been subjected to widespread, unsubstantiated online rumors that they contributed to his death said the grand jury's report is a weight off their clients' shoulders.
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report → address → shoulders
'He said that he felt like he could breathe for the first time,' attorney Tyler Cox said of one of Wells's friends.
'
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Cox → say → friends
This doesn't bring Nolan back at all, but this can at least put them on a path where they can finally mourn Nolan now that they´ve been officially cleared of any wrongdoing.'
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they´ve → bring → wrongdoing
Wells's parents and their lawyers voiced suspicions after Wells's friends left the island without him, saying he wanted to stay behind and talk to a girl.
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he → voice → girl
…and 8 more, not listed.
The Aporia
