A racially diverse Mississippi grand jury has concluded that there is insufficient evidence to charge anyone with a crime in the July death of 18-year-old Nolan Wells on Horn Island, but said the case should be revisited “If credible evidence comes to light in the future that suggests Mr.
Wells’ death was non-accidental.” The report from the group of 23 grand jurors (13 men and 10 women) from Jackson County who reviewed the circumstances surrounding Wells' death was released Monday by Angel Myers McIlrath, the district attorney for the 19th Circuit Court District of Mississippi, which serves Jackson, George and Greene Counties.
“After a thorough and exhaustive investigation, your grand jury met last week concerning the death investigation of Nolan Wells and unanimously returned a no true bill,” Myers McIlrath said in a video statement released with the grand jury report. The report highlighted that Mississippi’s Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. Staci Turner, and Dr. Roger A.
Mitchell Jr., a forensic pathologist hired by the family of Nolan Wells, could not determine the teenager’s cause of death. The report stated that while there was no classical evidence that Wells drowned, the grand jury concluded that the position, location, and condition of his body “is consistent with drowning.” “Both the State of Mississippi Chief Medical Examiner and Dr. [redacted] opined that the cause and manner of Mr.
Wells’ death is undetermined and that drowning is a diagnosis of exclusion. There was bruising on the back of Mr. Wells’ head which was not a fatal injury,” the report stated. A diagnosis of exclusion is a medical diagnosis reached through a process of elimination, when a patient's condition cannot be definitively established through direct history, physical examinations, or standard testing, according to Pediatric Care.