Litigation expected from family of Nolan Wells as attorneys outline next steps in investigation

Letters, shared with several outlets in the state, were sent from attorneys for Wells' family to friends of Wells and their family members on July 20.

"You are hereby placed on notice that litigation concerning the death of Nolan Wells is reasonably anticipated," a letter to Ashlee Cole, the mother of Wells' friend Warren Hudson, reads. "Accordingly, you have an immediate legal duty to preserve all materials of all kinds within your possession, custody or control that may be relevant in any way to the claims or defenses." 

Wells boated out to Horn Island with friends for Independence Day and was the only one to not return from that trip. Questions surrounding that trip, along with scarce information provided by law enforcement investigating the case, have sparked a steady stream of concern from Wells' family and across social media. 

Information from officials has been scarce, although new reports indicate that the state's autopsy was completed this week. 

The July 20 letters were sent by Gary Bufkin, a Mississippi attorney working with civil rights attorney Ben Crump to represent Wells' family. Bufkin's office did not return requests for comment on the litigation before publication, nor did the offices of Georgia attorney Eric Hertz, who is also working with Crump. 

In an email to MPB, Ben Crump's press team stated that they did not "have any additional information to share at this time" regarding potential litigation. 

Recipients of the letters were instructed to preserve electronic communications (like texts and social media messages), GPS data, devices (like phones and smart watches) and surveillance footage. 

In the meantime, Crump and his team outlined next steps for their investigation at a press conference at the National Urban League in Nashville. 

"We have the audio from the officials, and we have retained in our consulting with some of the foremost audio engineering experts to review those audio tapes from the Sea Tow call in its entirety," Crump said at the July 30 conference. 

Sea Tow is a boat towing company that Wells' friends called when they were leaving the island where Wells' body was found two days later. That audio obtained by WLOX from the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, indicating that Wells' friends left the island after their boat began taking on water.

Other steps include coordinating with law enforcement for a joint review of both Wells' phone and those of his friends. And, Crump would like to circle back on his team's independent autopsy. 

Initial findings by forensic pathologist Dr. Roger Mitchell were inconclusive. Crump claims body parts were missing following the state autopsy.

"We are hopeful that they will discuss with Dr. Mitchell the photographs and observations made at the time when Nolan was first discovered because Dr. Mitchell did not get an opportunity until July 10th to be able to examine his body," Crump said. "At that time, we know the airways and the lungs had already been dissected and so forth."

"So we can't tell if there was the presence of water or not: that would suggest whether he drowned or not." 

Wells' parents are continuing to ask the public for any information that could help them figure out what happened to their son. 

"We are begging, if anyone knows anything — his friends, strangers — please call the hotline, because we will not be able to rest until we get answers," said Wells' mother, Christine Wells-Wonsley, in Nashville. 

Even with the state autopsy likely complete, recent comments from Jackson County District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath indicate that those results aren't likely to be made public until after a grand jury review. 

According to Crump, McIlrath has said they'd turn information from the investigation over to a grand jury once the investigation is complete.

Court documents from Jackson County Chancery Court show that Wells' parents have also subpoenaed several social media companies, requesting records from Life360, Snapchat, Meta, TikTok and Whatsapp. They've voiced concerns that messages may have been deleted from Wells' phone, which they tracked to a friend's house after his body was found on Horn Island. 

Reverend Al Sharpton and media mogul Tyler Perry are offering a combined $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the case. This week, the father of Warren Hudson said he's offering an additional $50,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction. 

Other civil suits may be coming from friends of Wells: on Wednesday, Mississippi attorney Russ Latino announced he's representing a former teammate of Wells and possibly pursuing defamation claims against a social media influencer who has routinely posted about Wells' death. 

"I have been retained by the family of Bart Edmiston, Jr. to pursue people defaming him with wholly fabricated assertions of 'fact' that are putting Bart, his family and friends in harm’s way," Latino wrote in a Facebook post. 

So far, Latino has issued a cease and desist letter to a social media influencer based in Louisiana. In a separate post, he indicated that further legal action may be taken. 

In that letter and in a written statement from the family, they and Latino claim that the individual in question has published "numerous false and defamatory statements" and personal information that have exposed the Edmistons to "considerable safety risks".

 Latino is the CEO of right-leaning news outlet Magnolia Tribune and is the host of "The Sit Down with Russ Latino", which airs on Mississippi Public Broadcasting. He previously discussed Wells' case on his show with public safety commissioner Sean Tindell and published an opinion piece through Magnolia Tribune about the case.

That column focused on speculation surrounding Wells' death, particularly some of the questions regarding race. Wells was the only Black friend in the group that traveled to Horn Island on July 4. 

When asked how Latino planned to represent the family in light of his previously published opinions on Wells' case, and given his own leadership of Magnolia Tribune, Latino said he doesn't currently have any concerns. 

"To the extent that we're putting out press releases or anything about the litigation, they're going to other outlets instead of to the outlet that I'm involved with," Latino told MPB, adding that he's also no longer personally writing about the case to prevent "any accusation that there's the creation of a pipeline." 

Latino did acknowledge, however, the role his personal opinions play in representing the Edmiston family.

"My whole motivation in getting involved in this on a personal level, is that I think for the justice system to work, there's gotta be rule of law, there's got to be presumption of innocence." 

The FBI has previously confirmed with MPB News that they're assisting with the case, particularly at the federal level to address "interstate threats" that people have received in relation to Wells' case. Wells' parents say they've also received negative social media comments and mail following Wells' death.