For the first time since a Mississippi grand jury declined to hold anyone responsible for his death last month, three white friends of Nolan Wells, the Black teen who died on a boat outing with them this summer, say they loved him, would never have done him harm, and reject the notion that race played a role in his death.
In an interview aired on FOX News on Saturday, the friends, appearing with their lawyers, say they’ve rediscovered their faith, which is helping them deal with grief over Wells. They also say it helps shield them from the harsh public spotlight they’ve been under since their close friend disappeared on the July 4th trip.
“I learned to lean on the Lord,” Warren Hudson told host Kayleigh McEnany, describing the impact that Wells’ death and the widespread controversy surrounding it have had on his life, including death threats against him and his family.
Jax Pilato agreed, saying the loss “got us all closer to God.” Morgan Seymour described a change in their religious practice: “We started going to church more.”
No Hard Questions or Answers
But the young men weren’t asked to clarify exactly how they believe Wells died, what they did when they realized he had gone missing, or precisely why they left him behind on Horn Island, a state park popular with young people. They also insisted that the grand jury’s conclusion — there wasn’t enough evidence of wrongdoing to indict anyone — vindicated them.
Wells, 18 and a football player at Southwest Mississippi Community College, disappeared during a Fourth of July boat outing. His friends have said their boat began taking on water and that Wells stayed behind on Horn Island, expecting another ride back later, and gave them his cellphone for safekeeping.
“I learned to lean on the Lord.”Warren Hudson, friend of Nolan wells
While the friends made it home safely, Wells wasn’t heard from or seen again.
After reporting him missing, his mother, Christine Wells-Wonsley, demanded authorities search for him. She and her husband have questioned why their son would remain without his phone, calling it inconsistent with his behavior.
His body was found July 6.
The circumstances and questions around Wells’ death drew national headlines and sparked a firestorm of speculation on social media. Commentators pointed out Mississippi’s long history of lynching, including the death of Emmitt Till, and noted police initially ruled Wells’ death an accidental drowning with little investigation.
Federal Review Urged
But authorities took a second look at the case after civil rights lawyer Benjamin L. Crump and Rev. Al Sharpton began pushing for it. An independent autopsy the family commissioned found Wells had suffered blunt force trauma to the back of his head and other areas of his body before he died.
Both the independent and official state autopsies concluded the manner of Wells’ death was consistent with drowning, but neither could say exactly how or why it happened. Wells’ friends were not asked during the FOX News interview if they knew how his injuries occurred.
The interview followed a Jackson County grand jury’s mid-September decision not to criminally charge anyone on the three boats that traveled to the island with Wells. But the panel’s report said charges could be brought in the future if new, credible evidence comes to light.
Crump, Sharpton and Wells’ family continue to dispute the official state findings and want a federal review.
Doubts Remain
The FOX News interview with Wells’ friends failed to resolve doubts held by many viewers, according to comments and responses posted online by hundreds.
In response to the interview, “The Trent Out Loud Show” podcast and YouTube broadcast questioned the friends’ public expressions of grief, as well as the repeated presentation of their accounts as exclusive interviews.
“For me, much of this sounded like the same story we have heard repeatedly,” the episode description stated. It also said the friends’ presentation and lack of emotion kept raising questions for the host. Those assessments reflect the commentator’s opinion, not new evidence about Wells’ death.
On Reddit, discussion of the FOX News appearance included criticism of the friends’ choice of outlet. One anonymous commenter wrote:
“How are you so lacking in awareness to not understand how bad doing this exclusive with Fox News is going to look to the people who are already not on your side?”
Others pushed back against comments that minimized the threats the friends said they received. One participant cautioned:
“All it takes is one person angry enough or with the right amount of mental issues to become violent.”
The anonymous comments offer a limited snapshot of reaction; the commenters’ ages and identities could not be independently verified.
The friends’ testimony describes how they are coping spiritually. The family’s demands concern the unresolved circumstances of Wells’ death. The interview brought those differing concerns back into public view, with faith, grief and the search for answers still unfolding.
