Nolan Wells Update: Mississippi Officials Push Back Against Criticism of Investigation

Mississippi officials are pushing back after Nolan Wells‘ family’s attorney Ben Crump and NAACP President Derrick Johnson questioned how the case has been handled.

“We’re not accusing anyone of anything other than the state of Mississippi and local officials. We’re accusing them of being derelict in their duties,” Johnson said at the NAACP convention in Chicago on Wednesday, July 22.

“To follow up and to ensure that regardless of what happened, that there was the proper investigation so that this family and that community could be assured that if anyone was involved, they would be held accountable,” Johnson continued.

Mississippi state Senator Jeremy England felt that Johnson’s words were “completely unfair.”

“Our sheriff and our district attorney here in Jackson County, our DPS commissioner over the state of Mississippi law enforcement, our crime lab, the offices they put together, I know many of them personally and professionally, and they have the utmost integrity and they want to get the facts correct and get out there,” England told Fox News Digital on Thursday, July 23.

“You know, they understand they’re under a microscope at this point in time, but they’re being unfairly attacked,” he continued. “For no reason other than people trying to make shocking claims and get people to think something nefarious has happened or is going on.”

England added that it was disappointing to see the reputations of the investigators being called into question.

“But these are very good people, and it’s really disheartening to see their name and their reputation being dragged through the mud,” he said.

England also insisted investigators would continue following the evidence rather than giving in to public pressure, adding that there isn’t “always someone to blame.”

“Here in Mississippi, we don’t have and we don’t follow what you see in some other states and some other communities where you have activist district attorneys and activist sheriffs, and they’re listening to the public and they’re wanting to respond to the public,” England explained.

Congressman Mike Ezell also defended Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter, who’s been one of the officials leading the investigation.

“I have full confidence in Sheriff Ledbetter and all of our law enforcement officials as they are working hard to do a thorough investigation,” Ezell told Fox News Digital. “As a former sheriff and police officer, I know firsthand the demands and pressure of their job, and I know they will handle this matter with integrity.”

England’s response came hours after Crump and Johnson criticized the investigation while discussing the findings of the independent autopsy commissioned by Nolan’s parents, Christine Wells-Wonsley and Elmore Wonsley.

As Globe previously reported, Crump said that forensic pathologist Dr. Roger Mitchell found an area of “red discoloration” on Nolan’s head, but he was unable to determine a cause or manner of death pending further investigation.

However, forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden spoke to the outlet and said that the injury alone doesn’t necessarily point to foul play.

“So that could be from bumping into something in the water. There’s a lot of debris in the water, for example,” Baden said. “It depends how deep it is, but it’s describing a really superficial impact that could have happened before death or after death.”

Without additional information, Mitchell wrote in his report that he couldn’t rule out the possibility that “non-accidental factors contributed to or caused the death.”

Nolan, 18, disappeared on July 4 after taking a boat trip to Horn Island with some of his friends. The friends returned to the mainland, but Nolan did not, and two days later his body was found face down near the shore.

Authorities have previously said that they don’t suspect foul play, but the investigation remains ongoing. Meanwhile, Reverend Al Sharpton has offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in Nolan’s death.