Ocean Springs, Mississippi - Just days after friends who were with Nolan Wells expressed regret over the July 4 boat trip that ultimately led to the teen's mysterious death, the legal team for his family is pushing back against investigators, rejecting a sudden 48-hour deadline to surrender Wells’ cell phone, claiming their tactics to retrieve it are "not a good-faith path" to justice.
As the public and involved parties await the results of Wells' toxicology report, his family is facing a legal battle with the very investigators working to solve the case.
On Friday, the legal team representing Wells' family accused District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath of not operating in good faith, according to reports by the Sun Herald and WDSU 6.
Investigators at the Jackson County District Attorney's Office are said to have set a 48-hour deadline for Wells' family to hand over his cell phone, later insinuating that the family was not cooperating.
Attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Wells' family, said that all parties had agreed in mid-July to a joint examination of the phone, but no date or time was set. The family's legal team claims they were not in the state when the Jackson County DA's office reportedly sent a letter on Wednesday issuing a 48-hour deadline to turn over Wells' phone, and thus had not received the letter in time to arrange travel.
On Tuesday, Attorney Ahmad R. Smith pledged in a letter to the DA that Wells’ family and their legal team were ready to turn over the teen’s phone. One day later, on Wednesday, the Jackson County DA's office reportedly sent a letter issuing a 48-hour deadline to turn in the phone. The letter reportedly was delivered at 11:51 PM, demanding the phone be at the DA's office by 9 AM on Friday (August 14).
"Setting a 48-hour deadline while this family was out of state is not a good-faith path to answers, and it weakens our confidence in the process. Nolan's parents will not be pulled into a fight over deadlines and logistics," the family's legal team said Friday in a statement.
The Congressional Black Caucus is also calling on the Department of Justice to investigate Wells' mysterious death, writing on X, "More than 30 days after this tragedy, significant questions remain unanswered."
Nolan Wells case new updates as friends, family search for answers
Nolan Wells disappeared during a July 4 outing with friends to Horn Island off the Mississippi Gulf Coast. His body was found two days later.
Results of dueling autopsies were inconclusive, as the family – who had an independent autopsy done – and investigators await the findings of the toxicology report in hopes of finding some answers regarding what led to Wells' death. Many theories surrounding the teen's disappearance have circulated online, with an OnlyFans model getting in on the chatter and later being threatened by a lawyer of one of Wells' friends.
Later, a few of Wells' friends appeared on conservative commentator Brandon Tatum's podcast, with Warren Hudson saying, "I wish we would have never went out on the Fourth of July."
Though several arrests have been made in connection with the case relating to threatening messages and calls, no arrests have been made in connection with Wells' death.