No charges in Nolan Wells' death following grand jury review

A grand jury has announced that there is insufficient evidence to bring charges in the death of Nolan Wells, an 18-year-old Black teen who went missing following a July 4th boating trip off the Mississippi Gulf Coast. District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath made this decision on Monday, after months of speculation about the circumstances surrounding the teen's disappearance and the actions of his friends who left him behind on the island.

The Jackson County grand jury concluded that there was no evidence of criminal wrongdoing and noted that medical examinations of Wells' body by the Mississippi medical examiner's office and an independent forensic pathologist hired by the teen's family were unable to determine the cause and manner of death. The grand jury's report stated that if credible evidence emerges in the future suggesting that Wells' death was non-accidental, the matter should be brought back to the grand jury for further review.

On July 4th, Wells was celebrating with friends on Horn Island, an island off Mississippi's Gulf Coast. His body was discovered later that day.