Nolan Wells‘ family says they are prepared to make the teen’s phone immediately available for a joint investigation with the Jackson County District Attorney’s Office.
It comes as the family pushed back against claims that they refused to cooperate in the investigation, saying the Office gave them just 48 hours to turn over the teen’s phone.
Now, the family’s legal team is flipping the script, asking the office to select a time and date this week for the examination.
Phone Examination
In a letter to Jackson County District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath, obtained by Atlanta Black Star, the legal team says her office can choose any time between Tuesday, August 18, and Friday, August 21.
“Please provide at least a 12-hour notice of your chosen date and time so that the examination can be scheduled without further delay,” Ahmad R. Smith, the Wells’ family local counsel, said in the letter.
The legal team also asked the office to confirm whether the examination will still take place at the Digital Forensics Lab at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College.
The location was previously selected during a July 15 meeting between the family and the District Attorney’s Office. It was at that meeting that Ben Crump announced that they agreed to look at the phone together.
“The family wants Nolan’s phone examined right away, with both parties in the room. All parties agreed on July 15 that we share the same goal, which is determining the circumstances surrounding Nolan’s death,” the law firm said.
However, according to the legal team, no date or time for that examination was ever set after the meeting. Now, they are taking matters into their own hands.
“We are eager to comply with the agreement we entered on July 15, which is a joint forensic examination of Nolan’s phone conducted together, with their experts, our experts, and possibly the FBI. Our experts are on standby. The family is ready.”
A 48-Hour Demand
The new letter comes after the legal team says it received notice from the DA’s Office giving the family 48 hours to turn over Wells’ phone.
“On August 12 at 12:51 p.m. ET, the District Attorney’s office sent a letter directing the family to deliver the phone to her office by 9 a.m. on August 14, less than 48 hours later,” the law firm said in a statement on Friday.
Wells’ parents were out of town when the letter was sent and weren’t scheduled to return before the deadline.
“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 law firm said.
Wells’ parents got his phone back from his friends after the teen left it on the boat they took to the island to celebrate Independence Day.
The friends maintain that Wells decided to stay behind on the island to talk with a girl. Two days later, searchers found the 18-year-old dead.
Other Demands
Aside from the phone examination, the family’s legal team is also seeking more resources for forensic pathologist Dr. Roger Mitchell, who conducted Wells’ independent autopsy.
“We also hope to promptly move forward with Dr. Roger Mitchell’s examination of Nolan’s body parts that were not previously made available to him,” the legal team added in a letter. “Dr. Mitchell is available Wednesday, August 19th through Friday, August 21st, to complete the independent autopsy.”
Dr. Mitchell concluded that both the cause and manner of Wells’ death remain undetermined pending further investigation. His report noted that the absence of critical neck structures limited his ability to complete the examination.
The state has also completed its own autopsy, but those findings have yet to be made public.
Atlanta Black Star reached out to the Jackson County District Attorney’s Office for comment on the joint phone examination and the family’s demands regarding their independent autopsy but has not heard back.
