Nolan Wells’ funeral was on July 20 as the 18-year-old Mississippi teen was laid to rest. Questions have continued to swirl around Wells’ death after he went missing on July 4 while out with his friends on Horn Island, and his body was found on July 6.
Event Context
On the day of the funeral, actor and director Tyler Perry offered $50,000 reward money for information on his death. Celebrity pastor Al Sharpton also said his organization would offer the same sum taking the total pool to $100,000. Perry had already covered the funeral costs for Wells. Notably, a GoFundMe was set up for the Mississippi teen with the intention of paying for the funeral, helping the family find answers, and to get them the necessary help to move past the tragedy. Amid the new reward announcements, a Texas Republican has raised questions about the fundraiser for Wells.
Sarah Fields, the Republican Precinct Chair, wrote on X “Today, during Nolan Wells’ funeral, Al Sharpton announced in his eulogy that his organization would offer a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone responsible for Nolan’s death.”
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Player Focus
She added “Tyler Perry then matched the pledge, bringing the total reward to $100,000. Also today, the family’s GoFundMe goal was increased by $100,000 – from $750,000 to $850,000. All of this happened on the day of Nolan’s funeral.”
Fields also said “If the timing was intentional, it certainly raises questions. Whether it was planned or simply coincidental, both the reward announcement and the increase in the GoFundMe goal occurred on the same day as Nolan’s funeral,” remarking that the entire thing was ‘weird’.
At the time of writing, Wells’ GoFundMe has hit $745,000 of $850,000.
As the reward money was offered by Sharpton and Perry, Wells’ family lawyer, Ben Crump also made an appeal to people to come forward with any information about the late football player.
Match Outlook
Meanwhile, Sharpton commented on the reward money for information on Wells saying “I want to put up a reward of $50,000 for anybody who could give the information that will lead to an arrest and a conviction in the case of what happened.” He added “He was not on that island by himself, somebody saw something and knows something. So, I didn’t come to make money. I came to give money. Stand up and tell the truth. Whatever it is, good or bad.”
The pastor also said “You know that Tyler Perry said he would pay for the funeral. He must be watching because he said, ‘I’m gonna match you and put up $50,000 more.’ So, we’re putting up $100,000 for anybody that’ll come forward. We just want the truth. That’s all. We just want the truth, and we want to thank Tyler Perry,” as per KBTX.
Fields’ questions about Wells’ GoFundMe comes even as the case has sparked a discussion about race as Wells was a Black teen who had gone out with his white friends. As of now, cops said he died of drowning but have not ruled out foul play as they await the autopsy results.
Crump tried to make the point that this could happen to anyone’s son, and urged that there was a strong need for justice.
There are two autopsies in Nolan Wells’ case. One is underway at the Mississippi State Medical Examiner’s Office. While the autopsy was completed on July 7, they are awaiting toxicology reports, which can take several weeks.
Meanwhile, Crump and Wells’ family are conducting an independent autopsy in Washington DC. “We had his body flown from Mississippi to Washington, DC, because his family wanted to make sure that they had a doctor who had no ties to Mississippi law enforcement to do an independent examination of their son’s body,” Crump had said, as per CNN. Results from the same are pending as well.
