CHICAGO — An independent Autopsy commissioned by the family of Nolan Xavier Wells found an unexplained area of red discoloration near the back of the teenager’s skull. However, the examination did not determine what caused his death or whether another person played a role.
Dr. Roger A. Mitchell Jr., a board-certified forensic pathologist and former chief medical examiner for Washington, D.C., released his findings Wednesday morning at the 117th NAACP National Convention in Chicago. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents Wells’ family, presented his independent autopsy findings during the news conference.
Mitchell classified both the cause and manner of Wells’ death as undetermined pending further investigation.
The findings neither prove that Wells was assaulted nor establish that his death was an accidental drowning. Instead, Mitchell said significant decomposition, the effects of the first autopsy and the absence of certain anterior neck structures from the remains he examined limited what he could determine.
Wells, an 18-year-old Black college football player from Ocean Springs, Mississippi, disappeared after traveling by boat with friends to Horn Island on July 4. He did not return to the mainland with the group.
A U.S. park ranger found his body near the northwestern tip of the island on the morning of July 6, according to a statement from Crump’s office.
The Mississippi State Medical Examiner’s Office performed the initial autopsy. Its final findings, including toxicology results and an official ruling on the cause and manner of death, had not been released as of Wednesday morning.
Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, through his Know Your Rights Camp organization,, funded the family’s independent examination.
Discoloration found near the back of Wells’ skull in independent autopsy
Mitchell performed the second autopsy on July 10 after Wells’ body was transported to Washington, D.C.
By then, the body had undergone the initial autopsy and showed significant decomposition. The organs had been removed, dissected and returned to the body cavity as part of the first examination.
Because decomposition can obscure injuries on the skin, Mitchell performed additional dissections of the face, posterior head and neck, ribs, pelvis, back, buttocks, arms and legs.
He reported finding no fractures or deep-tissue injuries during those additional examinations.
A layered dissection of the posterior neck, however, revealed a focal area of red discoloration in the deep soft tissue overlying the occipital bone at the back of the skull.
Mitchell reported no laceration of the skin above the discoloration and no fracture of the skull beneath it. Because the body had substantially decomposed and no associated injury was identified, he could not determine whether the discoloration resulted from an injury sustained at or near the time of death.
Mitchell nevertheless flagged the finding for further investigation. He said it would not have been visible during the first autopsy because a posterior dissection had not been performed.
The discoloration, standing alone, does not establish that Wells suffered blunt-force trauma.
Anterior neck structures not available for review
Mitchell also disclosed that several anterior neck structures were not included with Wells’ body when he conducted the second examination.
Those structures included the trachea, hyoid bone and laryngeal and thyroid cartilage.
Mitchell said pathologists sometimes retain neck structures after an initial autopsy for additional examination. He did not know why they were retained in Wells’ case and did not claim that their absence from the second examination represented wrongdoing.
Without directly examining those structures, Mitchell said he could not independently rule out an injury to the front of Wells’ neck.
The previous dissection of Wells’ organs created other limitations. Mitchell could not observe the lungs and airway in their original condition to determine whether water was present. He also could not independently examine the stomach and its original contents.
Those observations, if documented, would be available through the state medical examiner’s records, photographs and laboratory findings.
Mitchell said he needs to review the retained neck structures, photographs from the first autopsy, toxicology results and other investigative evidence before reaching a final opinion.
Seven questions remain unanswered
Mitchell stated the circumstances surrounding Wells’ entry into the water are essential to determining how he died.
Among the unresolved questions are whether Wells was conscious when he entered the water and whether his entry was voluntary, accidental or forced.
Mitchell identified seven areas requiring further investigation:
- What circumstances led to Wells entering the water?
- What was the position of his body when it was found?
- Was water present in his airway?
- Is there evidence of injury to the anterior neck structures?
- Is there evidence of intracranial hemorrhaging?
- What was the composition of his stomach contents?
- What do the toxicology results show?
Mitchell reported the available information did not allow him to rule out the possibility that a nonaccidental event contributed to Wells’ death. That conclusion does not mean the autopsy found evidence of homicide. It means the evidence currently available to the independent pathologist is insufficient to determine what happened.
Parents question the initial response
Wells’ parents, Christine and Elmore Wonsley, joined Crump and NAACP President Derrick Johnson at Wednesday’s news conference.
Christine Wonsley said she had received little direct communication from the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department after her son’s body was found. She said her last contact with the department occurred after she initiated a text exchange one or two days following the recovery.
The parents remain troubled by Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter’s early public statements that investigators had no information indicating a crime had occurred.
Ledbetter has said the department’s investigation remains active and that investigators should not rush to a conclusion. The sheriff’s department has reported interviewing more than 60 witnesses, including the friends who traveled with Wells.
The family also disputes the account that Wells voluntarily stayed on Horn Island after the boat carrying his friends developed mechanical trouble.
Wells’ phone and house keys returned to the mainland on the boat without him. His parents have said they do not believe he would have willingly separated from the group without those belongings or a confirmed way home.
Investigators have not publicly established what happened to Wells after he was last seen on the island.
Case expected to reach a grand jury
Crump and Wells’ parents are calling for what they describe as a fair, comprehensive and transparent investigation.
The Jackson County District Attorney’s Office is expected to present the case to a grand jury after the sheriff’s investigation is completed. District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath’s office has said grand jury presentations are standard in the county for most unnatural or suspicious deaths.
Presenting the evidence to a grand jury does not, by itself, mean prosecutors believe a crime occurred.
On July 18, the NAACP National Board of Directors adopted a resolutioncalling for local, state and federal authorities—including the U.S. Department of Justice—to conduct an in-depth and transparent review of Wells’ death.
The resolution specifically called for an investigation into how Wells became separated from the people with whom he traveled and what occurred in the hours before his body was recovered.
A reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction has reached $125,000. The Rev. Al Sharpton and filmmaker Tyler Perry each pledged $50,000. Pro Football Hall of Famer Terrell Owens added $25,000.
The reward does not establish that a crime occurred.
For Wells’ family, Wednesday’s preliminary findings provided no definitive answer to the question that has followed them since July 4: What happened to their son?
The independent autopsy did not answer it. It documented the evidence Mitchell could examine, identified the limitations he encountered and outlined what information is still needed before he can offer a final conclusion.
For now, Nolan Xavier Wells’ cause and manner of death remain undetermined.
Anyone with firsthand information about Wells’ disappearance or death may contact the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department at 228-769-3063.
