Attorney Ben Crump claims a photo proves 18-year-old Nolan Wells was alive hours before his body was found on a Mississippi island on July 6.
Nolan was reported missing around 3 p.m. on July 6. According to Crump, the college football player was at a residential pool party with friends on July 5.
The photo was originally posted on Instagram by Shannel Tarot TV, a user with 85 followers. Her bio reads: “True Crime Investigation, Celebrity Gossip, and Trending Topics.”
The photo shows a Black teen in a swimming pool with at least 2 dozen White teenagers. Fireworks and 2 cans of beer are marked in red next to the pool.
“The streets are talking!”
Crump, who is representing Nolan’s family, shared the photo on his Instagram page on Sunday, July 12.
In the caption, Crump wrote: “The streets are talking! Now listen, I don’t know if these are facts or rumors because no official statements have been confirmed. We sometimes have to follow all clues until the truth is found.”
He continued: “Social media allegations claim a photo exists of Nolan at a land-based pool party in Jackson County before 1:00 AM on July 5th.”
Police say Nolan traveled to Horn Island with several friends on a boat to celebrate the 4th of July holiday. His friends, including a judge’s son, left the island without him hours later.
Nolan’s body was found face down in shallow water near the shoreline on Horn Island on Monday, July 6.
An autopsy determined he drowned. There were no signs of foul play or trauma on the body. Crump said Nolan was an excellent swimmer.
“This does not smell right.”
Crump pointed out several discrepancies, such as Nolan’s cell phone was not on him and messages on his phone were deleted.
The family used the Life360 GPS tracking app to locate his phone at a friend’s house. The friend said Nolan left his phone on the boat.
“This does not smell right,” the Rev. Al Sharpton said at a news conference Friday. “Some people are saying, ‘Reverend, are y’all bringing in race?’ Well, we’re not bringing in race. But we’re not discounting race, either, because we don’t know what it is. So, to tell us, ‘Don’t rush to judgment saying it was racist’ is fine. But then I’m telling you, ‘Don’t rush to judgment saying it was not racism,’ because we do not know.”
Former NFL player Colin Kaepernick and Tyler Perry paid the expenses to fly Nolan’s body to Washington, DC for an independent autopsy.
“It is not adding up. And that’s why the family, at their behest, we had an independent autopsy being performed,” Crump said Friday. “We had his body flown from Mississippi to Washington, DC, because his family wanted to make sure that they had a doctor who had no ties to Mississippi law enforcement to do an independent examination of their son’s body.”
The results of the 2nd autopsy will be announced “very soon,” Crump said on Saturday, July 11.
Kaepernick and Perry are paying for Nolan’s funeral and memorial service in Mississippi.
Disclaimer: This is a developing news story. Please keep in mind that breaking news might turn out to be wrong later. The information might change as the story develops.