Nolan Wells’ litigious friends have silenced a Black influencer, whose accusations against the teens have already put him at the center of a defamation case.
On Oct. 6, criminal defense attorney Tyler Cox and media law attorney Edward Andrew Paltzik sued Demarcus Hughes (aka Boogie LowDown) and five other social media influencers for defamation.
Cox and Paltzik represent Warren Hudson, Jax Pitalo and Morgan Seymour, who spent the day with Wells before he disappeared.
The attorneys say Hughes falsely accused the teens of murdering Wells on his Facebook accounts and continued to make false and defamatory comments even after they filed a defamation lawsuit.
On October 12, the attorneys requested an emergency order barring Hughes from publicly accusing the teens of criminal wrongdoing.
Jackson County judge Mark Watts granted a temporary order that day without first notifying Hughes and will decide whether the restriction is permanent at a November hearing.
The order prohibits Hughes from posting or sharing videos, audio, photos, images, or text about the three teens on Facebook, other social media sites, or live streams.
The request also sought to bar Hughes, or anyone acting on his behalf, from hosting or joining live broadcasts or posting comments, replies, or direct messages in chats.
Hughes responded in an October 21 Facebook post, calling the emergency order “insane.” He vowed to fight back.
“They have a network of millions of online followers and supporters, but they are doing this because of my combined 32,000 followers?” he told Mississippi newspaper, the Sun Herald.
“This is nuts, and I am preparing my defense.”
According to court documents obtained by the outlet, Cox said that Hughes put the teens and their families in danger by sharing their home addresses and the schools they attend with his followers.
Cox also alleges that Hughes accused him of having a felony domestic battery charge, but the charge was dismissed. He said Hughes posted pictures of Cox’s wife and his children.
On September 21, a Jackson County grand jury unanimously concluded that there was no credible evidence against Wells’ friends of foul play, racial targeting, or criminal conduct. In its report, the grand jury said the evidence was consistent with an accidental drowning.
Before the official ruling, commentators could claim they were merely speculating on an ongoing investigation. But the lawsuit notes that Hughes and others kept posting after the state cleared the friends.
But questions remain.
The state medical examiner found non-fatal head injuries to the back of Wells’ head that an independent pathologist determined happened within four hours of his death.
A state autopsy found no water, fluid, or debris in Wells’ lungs, throat, or stomach.
Both the official Mississippi State Medical Examiner’s report and an independent autopsy commissioned by the family list Wells’ cause and manner of death as “undetermined.”
