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    "original_url": "https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/09\/22\/us\/nolan-wells-death-case-grand-jury.html?emc=edit_nn_20260922&nl=the-morning&segment_id=226865",
    "parsed_content": "AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTSupported bySKIP ADVERTISEMENTGrand Jury Finds Insufficient Evidence of Crime in Death of Nolan WellsThe 18-year-old was found dead days after taking a boat to a Mississippi island with friends on July 4. His case set off nationwide speculation about what happened.Listen \u00b7 4:40 min Share full articleAn image of Nolan Wells at a news conference at the NAACP National Convention in Chicago in July.Credit...Scott Olson\/Getty ImagesBy Qasim NaumanSept. 22, 2026Updated 3:34 a.m. ETSee more of our coverage in your search results.Encuentra m\u00e1s de nuestra cobertura en los resultados de b\u00fasqueda. Add The New York Times on GoogleAgrega The New York Times en Google A grand jury in Mississippi has concluded that there was insufficient evidence to bring criminal charges in the case of Nolan Wells, an 18-year-old who was found dead two days after a boat outing with friends on July 4.The grand jury in Jackson County, Miss., found unanimously that the circumstances and condition of Mr. Wells\u2019s body were \u201cconsistent with drowning,\u201d according to a copy of its report posted on social media on Monday by the county district attorney\u2019s office. It also said there was no credible evidence of criminal conduct by the people who traveled with him to an island off the Mississippi coast that day.The report noted that both the state\u2019s chief medical examiner and the forensic pathologist hired by the Wells family said the cause and manner of death were undetermined, and that drowning was a \u201cdiagnosis of exclusion.\u201d The grand jury said that while there was bruising on the back of Mr. Wells\u2019s neck, it was not a fatal injury, and its cause was uncertain.The disappearance and death of Mr. Wells, who was Black, drew national attention. Civil rights activists, elected officials and social media users speculated about the circumstances of the case and the actions of the friends with whom he went to the island.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTMississippi\u2019s history of racial injustice and the failure at times of its authorities to thoroughly look into crimes against Black people were factors in the conversations.The grand jury report, submitted to a county circuit clerk on Friday, found that Mr. Wells was not the only Black person on the island that day. The report refuted what it said were \u201cfalse assertions that have led to misidentification, speculation, and rumors\u201d about his death.\u201cThere is absolutely no evidence to support the allegations that Nolan\u2019s disappearance and death were racially motivated,\u201d Angel Myers McIlrath, the Jackson County district attorney, said on Monday in a video posted on social media along with the grand jury report.The 23 people on the grand jury included five Black members, according to their report.Ben Crump, the civil rights lawyer representing the Wells family, said in a statement on Monday that the grand jury\u2019s report failed to determine what caused the injury on the back of Mr. Wells\u2019s head and how it may have contributed to his death.\u201cToday, the state of Mississippi is attempting to close the chapter on Nolan Wells\u2019s death without getting to the truth,\u201d Mr. Crump said.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT\u201cWe don\u2019t know how Nolan died, and neither does the State of Mississippi,\u201d he added, urging the authorities to continue their investigations.Mr. Wells graduated from Ocean Springs High School in 2025 and played wide receiver last season for the Southwest Mississippi Community College football team. He was last seen alive on July 4, when he went by boat with friends to Horn Island, an unpopulated, 10-mile-long strip.His friends returned to the mainland without him, with one later saying that Mr. Wells had stayed behind because he had met a girl on the island. When he did not return later that night, his mother reported him missing. Multiple agencies began a search, and a park ranger found his body on July 6.The grand jury\u2019s report said Mr. Wells and his friends traveled on three boats to Horn Island, and that he and some others chose to remain there to socialize after the boats departed. The names of the people who went to the island with Mr. Wells were redacted in the report released by the district attorney\u2019s office.One of the questions raised earlier in the case concerned Mr. Wells\u2019s belongings, including his phone, which his friends brought back to the mainland. The grand jury found that it was not unusual for people to return from the island on different boats than they had taken to get there or for their personal items to be sent back without them. Its report said that Mr. Wells\u2019s was not the only phone to return without its owner to the mainland that day.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTThe report noted, however, that there is no statute of limitations in Mississippi for homicide cases, and that if any evidence emerges suggesting that the death of Mr. Wells was not accidental, it should be referred to the grand jury for consideration.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT",
    "published_at": "2026-09-22T07:15:01+00:00",
    "author_name": "Qasim Nauman",
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    "ai_headline": "Grand Jury Finds Insufficient Evidence of Crime in Death of Nolan Wells",
    "ai_simplified_title": "Grand Jury Finds Insufficient Evidence in Nolan Wells Death",
    "ai_excerpt": "A Mississippi grand jury found insufficient evidence to bring criminal charges in the death of 18-year-old Nolan Wells, who was found dead after a July 4 boat outing. The report concluded circumstances were consistent with drowning, despite national speculation and civil rights concerns.",
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