Grand Jury returns decision in Nolan Wells death investigation

JACKSON COUNTY, Miss. (WXXV) — The Jackson County District Attorney’s office announced on Monday night that no criminal charges or indictments will be filed in the death investigation of Nolan Wells, as a grand jury unanimously returned a no true bill decision in the case.

According to a redacted report, the grand jury issued 132 subpoenas and heard from 43 witnesses, but a no true bill decision means the grand jury decided there was not enough evidence to charge a person with a crime.

The grand jury had access to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office’s complete investigative file, including testimony of witnesses, physical evidence, digital evidence, reports, interviews and recorded statements, images, video and recordings, maps, GPS and location data, cell phone extractions, and responses to subpoenas.

You can view the full redacted Grand Jury report, plus the full video statement from District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath here. 

The report notes that a doctor, whose name has been redacted, performed one of the autopsies on Wells’ body and confirmed that the retention of Wells’ internal neck structures and tissue retained by the Mississippi Medical Examiner is appropriate and of best practice in forensic pathology. The doctor also dispelled rumors about various other organs including the lungs and stomach being retained, meaning the doctor who conducted the independent autopsy did receive all of Wells’ body parts expect for the internal neck structures.

The grand jury also found that Nolan Wells did not have cocaine in his system at the time of his death and found no evidence to suggest he ever used cocaine.

The grand jury considered the toxicology report which supports witness accounts of wells on the 4th of July, but the grand jury report states that the toxicology is not particularly informative as decomposition fluid is an unreliable source for evaluating substance levels within a body.

Now, we have not received a copy of the state medical examiner’s official autopsy report, but according to the grand jury report, both the state medical examiner the doctor who conducted the independent autopsy concluded that the manner of Wells’ death is undetermined and that drowning is a “diagnosis of exclusion.”

This means that while available evidence does not provide enough for absolute certainty, it is believed that drowning is the most likely explanation after ruling out other causes.

Reports say the bruising found on the back of Wells’ head was not a fatal injury, but the cause of the bruising remains unclear. The grand jury found no evidence of any fatal injury to Wells’ body. There was also no evidence to explain the suspected bruising on the back of wells’ buttocks and shoulder.

A witness testified that he saw Wells “slip awkwardly off the side of a boat around the time of 3:30 p.m. on July 4th, but could not say whether Mr. Wells struck his head during the fall. The witness testified that wells continued to socialize after the fall and did not appear injured.” The grand jury can not say with certainty if the fall caused any of the bruising.

The investigation revealed that Nolan Wells did not go to Horn Island with only three friends as previously believed, but arrived with a group of people and met up with many other friend when on the island. The grand jury found that Wells chose to remain on the island to socialize after all three boats that arrived together left Horn Island.

As stated in the report, the grand jury found no credible evidence to support the public allegations that any persons who rode to or from Horn Island on July 4th 2026 (on any of the three boats) engaged in any criminal conduct related to the death of Nolan Wells.

It is also stated that the allegations against the other individuals who were with Nolan on the 4th of July are “not based in truth, and are solely the result of public clamor and private malice.” The grand jury believes that the accusations against those individuals and their families are false and have no evidence.

The grand jury also found that the Sea Tow call made by the individuals on the boat on the 4th of July, which heavily circulated online and social media, are not true or accurate. It was also determined that the photos circulating of a pool party that Nolan attended, believed to be on July 4th, were not taken that night.

The grand jury also found that the Nolan wells purchased his own alcohol with a fake ID, and he was not involved in a physical altercation or argument on the island.

Lastly, the grand jury finds that “the position of, the condition of, time of discovery, and location of Nolan wells’ body is consistent with drowning.”

There is no statute of limitations on homicide cases in the state of Mississippi, so if credible evidence comes to light in the future that suggests Nolan Wells’ death was non-accidental, the case will be presented again to the Jackson County grand jury for further consideration.

WXXV will continue to provide updates and break these findings down for you in the days ahead.

This is still a developing story, and we will continue to update this article as new developments are made available.