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Is race a factor in Nolan Wells' death? Friends say they're getting death threats, rip Ben Crump: ‘None of this adds up’
Nolan Wells’ friends have spoken out after his death, talking about the race narrative and accusing attorney Ben Crump of taking “advantage” of the situation.
Two of Mississippi teen Nolan Wells’ friends have spoken out after his death, stressing that it has nothing to do with race. The 18-year-old from Ocean Springs, Mississippi, was found dead in the water on the northwest end of Horn Island on Monday morning, July 6.
Wells went missing on July 4 after taking a boat to the island with friends. The search for the teen was called off after a body was found by a park ranger on Monday, July 6.
Several photos indicate that the college football player was the only Black person among a group of people he was with before he died, leading to social media speculation around his death. While some suggested he may have died due to racially motivated violence, some believe his friends failed to protect him because of his race.
While comments on the case are not directly split along racial lines, many have begun talking about Mississippi's long history of racial injustice and Black deaths caused by lynching.
Also Read | Nolan Wells' death sparks protests in Ocean Springs, Mississippi as hundreds demand answers; videos surface
Jayvon Williams and Tracetin Shepherd, two of Wells’ Black friends, told the media that people need to stop making his death about race. One friend even accused attorney Ben Crump, who has been hired by Wells’ family, of preying on Wells' parents at a difficult time.
Shepherd pointed out that people who were on the boat with Wells are even getting death threats.
Crump reportedly said last week that there were very few Black people with Wells on Horn Island on July 4, so if someone saw something, it should have been very noticeable. Civil rights activist Al Sharpton said that while they are not saying race is a factor in the case, they are not discounting it either.
‘None of this adds up’
Williams told TMZ that while he too has questions about Wells’ death, the demographics of the friend group are not unusual. It was not "a whole race thing,” he said, according to Clarion Ledger.
"Obviously they're gonna paint it as that because none of this adds up," he said.
Shepherd said that Wells was loved by everyone, and the racial narrative Crump is "trying to spin" is untrue.
"I understand [Wells'] parents are grieving and I really think he's taken a little bit of advantage of that. And I don't like that. I really don't because they're vulnerable," he told ABC News.
Shepherd told ABC and Rolling Stone that he and his friends are getting death threats amid the investigation. Chancery Court Judge Ashlee Cole, the mom of one of the friends Wells went to Horn Island with, drew fire after briefly deactivating her social media accounts.
Cole later issued a statement, saying she did so to protect her family's privacy. She later also shared screenshots of death threats she had received.
“We have decided that we will not be speaking to the press at this time,” she wrote on Facebook. “The Media is not the appropriate forum to further elaborate on the facts of July 4, 2026. We realize that the truth will not stop the calls for the death of our small children. We have not had the opportunity to speak to the Wells-Wonsley family or their attorney. However, we are willing to directly communicate with attorney Ben Crump and the Wells-Wonsley family.”
She added, “We will provide them with all the information known to us so their family can rest and properly mourn. We also want to know what happened to Nolan. We will do everything within our power to assist Nolan’s family in their quest for answers.”
Crump said that the young men who were on the boat with Wells have all obtained lawyers. Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter has said that everyone is cooperating with the investigation.
