Crump says Mississippi closing Wells’ case “without getting to the truth”

• The statement came just before Crump was scheduled to hold a press conference in Atlanta.

Attorney Ben Crump, who has been representing the parents of Nolan Wells, released a statement Tuesday morning reacting to the Jackson County grand jury returning a no true bill in the case of the death of the Ocean Springs teen.

READ MORE: No indictments handed down by Jackson County grand jury in death of Nolan Wells

The statement came just before Crump was scheduled to hold a press conference in Atlanta.

Crump said the State of Mississippi is attempting to close the chapter on Wells’ death “without getting to the truth.”

“Mississippi’s own pathologist found two bruises on the back of this young man’s head and informed investigators of them early in this investigation,” Crump stated. “An independent autopsy documented traces of blood and recent blunt force injuries to the back of Nolan’s head and his back. To this day, not one person has explained how they got there.”

According to the grand jury report, the bruising on the back of Wells’ head “was not a fatal injury” and the exact cause of the injury remains uncertain. A witness testified that he saw Wells slip off the side of a boat but could not say whether the teen struck his head in the fall. Yet, the witness did say he saw Wells socializing after the slip and did not appear to be injured.

Crump’s statement came after Al Sharpton issued his own statement saying he “strongly disagrees” with the grand jury that there was no criminal wrongdoing in Wells death.

READ MORE: Sharpton “strongly disagrees” with the grand jury that there was no criminal wrongdoing in Wells death

Sharpton, along with Crump, has been pushing a racially charged narrative surrounding the teen’s death.

In speaking of the independent medical examiner Crump hired to examine Wells’ body, the attorney said the doctor wrote that the record does not establish whether Wells entered the water on his own or was forced, or whether he was conscious when he went in.

“We don’t know how Nolan died, and neither does the State of Mississippi,” Crump said. “Mississippi must keep investigating, and if it will not pursue this to the end, the Department of Justice should.”

The grand jury report stated that “the position of, the condition of, time of discovery, and location of Mr. Wells’ body is consistent with drowning.”

Jackson County District Attorney Angel Myers-McIlrath said Monday that she invited and hosted the family’s independent medical examiner. He came to Mississippi for two days, examined Wells’ throat structure, and was provided full investigative reports. He then testified before the grand jury.

McIlrath said she shared Wells’ autopsy and toxicology results with the family’s attorney after not being able to reach his mother directly.

“The Crump team knew better, but allowed the public to believe, among other false narratives, that our medical examiners withheld Nolan’s lungs and stomach when his body was released, that things had been deleted off of Nolan’s phone before it was given back to his family, that I refused to cooperate with the examination of Nolan’s cell phone, that I refused to provide Nolan’s autopsy results to the family,” McIlrath said. “All lies, and they knew it.”

Crump now says they are releasing the final independent autopsy report in its entirety, “so everyone can read it for themselves.”

“This grand jury result leaves us with more questions than answers. Nolan’s family will not rest until we know what happened to him, and neither will we,” Crump said.

Magnolia Tribune will update this article if need be following the press conference by Crump in Atlanta.