An online legal fund launched by friends of Nolan Wells has raised roughly $190,000 as questions continue to surround the investigation into the 18-year-old’s death.
The fundraiser, created on GiveSendGo for Warren Hudson, Jax Pitalo, and Morgan Seymour, aims to cover their legal expenses as they face “an unprecedented online campaign of accusations, harassment, threats, and defamation.”
The three young men were with Wells during a July Fourth trip to Horn Island, Mississippi. Wells did not return to the mainland with the group. His body was found in the water near the island two days later.
Organized by Benjamin Hudson — father of Warren Hudson — the fundraiser was established to help the families “raise money to defend these friends against incoming wrongful death actions filed by Attorney Ben Crump and his team.”
As of Thursday, August 27, the campaign had raised over $189,000.
The fundraising effort comes as critical questions surrounding the investigation remain unanswered.
When Will the Case Go Before a Grand Jury?
The lack of a public timeline has left Wells’ family and supporters waiting for answers more than seven weeks after his death.
Jackson County District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath says the investigation will ultimately be presented to a grand jury.
However, authorities have not publicly announced a specific date for when the grand jury will review the case.
Attorney Eric Hertz, who is representing the Wells family, noted earlier this month that the case could go before a grand jury within 30 days based on the current evidence and timeline.
While the official autopsy has reportedly been completed, authorities are withholding the results pending grand jury review. Wells’ family also commissioned an independent autopsy, though those findings came back inconclusive.
What Happened to Wells’ Phone?
Another major unresolved issue centers on Wells’ cellphone, which was brought back to shore by his friends.
The Wells family and the Jackson County District Attorney’s Office previously agreed to a joint forensic examination of the device. According to the family’s attorneys, both parties discussed conducting the analysis at the Digital Forensics Lab at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, with potential involvement from the FBI.
However, no date for the joint examination was set.
On Aug. 12, the DA’s office reportedly gave the family 48 hours to turn over the phone. The family’s attorneys pushed back, saying they had already agreed to a joint examination and that the parties still needed to establish a forensic protocol covering issues including chain of custody and access to the extracted data.
The family later indicated it was prepared to hand over the device immediately, asking the DA’s office to choose an examination date between Aug. 18 and Aug. 21.
However, there has been no public confirmation that the forensic extraction was ever completed.
Friends Threaten Legal Action
The latest legal move involving Wells’ friends came last week, when their attorneys sent Rev. Al Sharpton a letter threatening a defamation lawsuit.
Attorneys representing Hudson, Pitalo and Seymour accused Sharpton of making defamatory statements about them in the aftermath of Wells’ death.
The attorneys specifically referenced comments Sharpton made during a July 14 interview with TMZ and other public statements.
They demanded that Sharpton retract and remove what they characterized as false and defamatory statements.
The attorneys have also disputed claims surrounding Wells’ cellphone and keys.
They said none of the three friends touched, possessed, accessed or erased data from Wells’ phone. Additionally, they denied that the friends concealed Wells’ keys, explaining that the keys were left in Pitalo’s bedroom and later turned over to Wells’ stepfather.
Sharpton has defended his comments, stating he had a right to raise questions brought to him by Wells’ parents.
Whether those comments constitute defamation remains legally unclear.
Will the Federal Government Get Involved?
Wells’ family and supporters have called for a federal review of the case.
The Congressional Black Caucus has also urged the Justice Department and FBI to conduct an independent review of Wells’ disappearance and death.
However, there has been no public announcement that federal authorities have taken over the death investigation or opened an independent federal investigation into Wells’ death.
The FBI has been involved in a separate aspect of the fallout surrounding the case: multiple people with no apparent connection to Wells or his family have been charged in connection with alleged threats against officials, witnesses and others involved in the case.
For now, the death investigation remains with Mississippi authorities where No one has been publicly charged in connection with Wells’ death.
And while the teen’s family continues to seek answers about what happened to him, the fundraiser supporting his friends continues to grow as the legal battle surrounding the case expands beyond the investigation itself.
