Ben Crump gives updates on Nolan Wells, Daniel Erving and Tyler Smith cases

[0:00] Justice for Daniel Irvin, Justice for Tyler Smith, Justice for Tyler Smith, Justice for [0:34] our Black youth, Justice for our Black youth, Justice for our Black youth, Justice for our [0:50] Black youth. [0:51] Ladies and gentlemen, first of all, let me say how much I appreciate you all coming [0:56] out for this important media conference. [1:02] We have organized this press conference for a few purposes. [1:13] One purpose is because we want the world to love that the National Urban League and all [1:20] of our affiliates and members and supporters across the country are standing with these [1:28] three families. [1:30] Families suffer the tragedy of the loss of a child. [1:42] It gets lonely. [1:48] And when families suffer the loss of children under circumstances that are suspicious and, [1:59] to the naked eye, appear unjust, we must stand with these families. [2:08] When families face the challenge of a non-responsive criminal justice system, we must stand with [2:22] these families. [2:24] With this giant of a loyal advocate over the last 15 years, going all the way back to Trayvon [2:35] Martin. [2:36] We have stood with Ben Crump and his clients because we want the community to know that [2:56] we are not going to be silent in the face of injustice. [3:01] You and I cannot even fathom the pain of these families. [3:13] I want to thank them for their courage in being here in public under the glare of the media in [3:27] these circumstances. [3:28] But we want them to know they are with family. [3:33] We are standing with family. [3:35] So Ben Crump is going to bring us all up to date on the latest facts, events, and status [3:49] of these three cases. [3:52] And we are going to continue, as we said in the earlier session, to advocate until there [4:02] is justice for these three families. [4:05] And we will not be silent. [4:07] We will not get tired. [4:10] We will not get distracted. [4:13] Until justice rolls down in these three cases. [4:18] So I am proud to introduce a man who is known as the Attorney General for Black America. [4:28] And I dare say he stands with the great lawyers that our community has produced. [4:38] Herbert Marshall, Constance Baker Motley, Johnny Cockney, and I can name so many others. [4:49] Who over the years have been advocates for our community in many, many ways. [4:56] So ladies and gentlemen, the next voice you are going to hear is from one of America's [5:02] great lawyers, someone who is giving voice to families and the victims of injustice. [5:08] Ladies and gentlemen, Ben Crump. [5:10] Thank you to President and CEO of the National Urban League, Mark Morial. [5:22] Please give us a great round of applause for him not being in love for him to invite the [5:27] families to be here at this great convention. [5:31] We are so grateful to him and the others in the civil rights community for standing up like [5:38] they have stood up in the past. [5:40] And just like we got justice for George Floyd. [5:46] Just like we got justice for Breonna Taylor. [5:51] Just like we got justice for Ahmaud Arbery. [5:54] We gonna get justice for Nolan Wells. [5:58] We gonna get justice for Daniel Irving. [6:01] And we gonna get justice for Taylor Smith. [6:04] And the last part is because you all are not afraid to speak truth to power. [6:11] Thank you, Mr. Mark. [6:15] Again, I'm attorney Ben Crump along with attorney Lisa Park. [6:21] Attorney Eric Hertz. [6:23] We are here by employing the family of other great lawyers for Nolan Wells. [6:30] But we also have present with us the family of Daniel Irving. [6:35] Who many of you are just learning about outside of Dallas, Texas and his tragedy. [6:41] We have attorney Sean DeRaya and attorney Brooke Close fighting to help that family get justice. [6:50] And we want to applaud his mother, Tamika, who has been fighting. [6:57] Your mother would fight with not many people in the world listening. [7:04] But we're listening today, Tamika. [7:06] You are not alone, Tamika. [7:08] You got Nolan's mother and father Christine and Elmore Winsley who are standing with you as well. [7:18] Tamika, your daughter is here. [7:20] You are not alone. [7:22] Y'all please let her know she is not alone. [7:25] Justice for Daniel Irving. [7:27] Attorney Harry Daniels, we also have the family of Tyler Smith, Lexington, Kentucky. [7:41] You're going to hear from all of these families. [7:46] You're going to hear from Tyler's mother and especially his grandmother. [7:52] And you know, until the lawyers get there, until the community advocates get there, [7:57] a lot of times these families are just by themselves, President R.M. [8:02] And thank God for this mother and this praying grandmother who refused to let them sweep the death of her grandbaby under the rug. [8:14] And so I will say briefly about each of these tragedies. [8:22] Obviously, many of you know about Nolan Wells. [8:27] And you're going to hear from his mother and father after the brief remarks by Attorney Virgs and Attorney Park. [8:34] But we all know, July 4th, Nolan Wells goes with friends celebrating the 4th of July. [8:44] All of the friends come back. [8:46] Nolan Wells tragically washes up on the shore two days later. [8:54] And so we know all of the current events that have been happening. [9:00] And we are announcing that we have the audio from the officials. [9:08] And we have retained and consulted with some of the foremost audio engineering experts [9:17] to review those audio tapes from the CTO call in its entirety. [9:26] We also, and Attorney Virgs may go into greater detail on these matters, [9:32] have consulted President Muriel with oceanic engineering experts [9:38] to talk about how these facts are lining up. [9:42] the fact that they say Nolan's body was found in the same location where they say they live in. [9:53] And so we want to know how is that possible with the oceanic tides. [10:00] We want, I mean, you've got low tides and high tides. [10:04] It's not adding up. [10:05] So we are going to dot every I and cross every T until we find out [10:11] what happened to Nolan Wells. [10:15] Attorney Hirsch is also going to a little more detail at Attorney Park [10:21] about how we're trying to coordinate with Dr. Roger Mitchell [10:25] who conducted the independent autopsy of Nolan Wells [10:30] to be able to inspect his throat that was missing with his body [10:37] when he was flown to do the autopsy with Dr. Mitchell. [10:41] Also, we are hopeful that they will discuss with Dr. Mitchell the photographs and observations made [10:51] at the time when Nolan was first discovered because Dr. Mitchell did not get an opportunity [10:58] until July 10th to be able to examine his body. [11:03] And at that time, we know the airwaves and the lungs had already been dissected and so forth. [11:10] So we can't tell if there was the presence of water or not. [11:15] That would suggest whether he drowned or not. [11:18] And remember what Dr. Roger Mitchell said in his autopsy, President Mario, he talked about the fact that to say he drowned does not draw the conclusions of what happened to Nolan Wells. [11:35] He said it is equally important to know at what condition was Nolan Wells' body when he went into the water. [11:44] Was he conscious or was he unconscious? [11:47] Was he forced into the water or did he go unforced into the water? [11:51] He said all of these things are very important. [11:54] And so we are dying I's and crossing T's. [11:57] We are focused on getting to the truth and we stand for the truth. [12:03] Me and everybody on my legal team stand for the truth no matter who it implicates or who it exonerates. [12:11] And we stand for transparency so everybody can see. [12:25] And that's all we want. [12:27] We want answers. [12:28] We're not casting aspersions on anybody. [12:31] We are saying that we want to make sure everybody who is remotely involved has their questions answered to make sure we have a full and fair and impartial and transparent investigation. [12:49] And is that too much to ask for these broken hearted parents? [12:53] Is that too much to ask? [12:56] If it was your child, would you want the same thing? [13:01] And I get it. [13:03] They're attacking me. [13:04] They're attacking Kevin Al. [13:06] They're attacking the parents of Nolan Wells. [13:10] We don't care about those distractions. [13:13] We don't. [13:14] We ain't nobody's tired. [13:16] We are completely focused, completely laser focused on getting to the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. [13:27] So help us God. [13:30] And so the threats and attacks mean nothing to us. [13:35] We will not be deterred looking into our eyes. [13:41] We're going to get to the truth. [13:44] I am so grateful to Mr. Byron Allen for donating $100,000 to the Gold Plan B so we can help get the best experts in the world. [13:55] I am thankful to Reverend Al Sharpton. [13:58] I am thankful to Mr. Tyler Perry. [14:01] I am thankful to Mr. Tara Owens. [14:04] Tara Owens. [14:05] I am very thankful to everybody who did not think of robbery to say what can we do to help people get to the truth and call in to the tip line. [14:19] So we can help not only Nolan Wells family, but we can help Daniel Irving's family. [14:24] And we can help Taylor Smith's family as well. [14:27] Everybody on social media, please continue to ask questions. [14:31] Please continue to share photographs, share videos. [14:35] It all helps us solve this potential of what happened to Nolan Wells. [14:42] I mean, isn't somebody saw something. [14:49] Somebody knows something. [14:51] As Christine and Elmore have said, if you're really Nolan's friend, you know your heart of hearts that if the roads were reversed, that Nolan would say something. [15:08] He will call and tell what he saw. [15:11] And so that's all they're asking. [15:15] Do for Nolan what he would have done for you. [15:19] Do for Nolan what he would have done for you. [15:22] Do for Nolan what he would have done for you. [15:28] Congresswoman, baby, we thank you and the Congressional Black Caucus. [15:34] Please stand and join us, Congresswoman y'all. [15:37] You all asking the questions from the Department of Justice and the FBI. [15:42] It's important that we have the full weight and force of everybody who has any kind of authority to be able to help us get answers on Nolan Wells and the other 18 year old Black Caucus. [15:56] Now, before I break up the lawyers, I just want to say a word about Daniel Irving and about his case. [16:09] And you hear from attorney John DeRaya and after you hear from his mother, Tamika. [16:18] So similar. [16:21] So similar. [16:22] And what they're saying about Nolan Wells. [16:28] And that is her 18 year old son, President Mario, Congresswoman, baby. [16:35] Two young white teenagers come, pick them up from their house. [16:42] They go on, I guess, a vision trip. [16:49] Her son, I guess, they are saying accidentally drowned. [17:00] But his two friends then throw away his clothes. [17:06] Right, Sean? [17:07] Throw away his cell phone. [17:09] Go and delete all the text messages between Daniel Irving and them. [17:16] And then say nothing. [17:20] If it's an accident or drowning, why wouldn't you come to his mother and tear her? [17:25] He drowned by accident. [17:26] Why wouldn't you go to the authority? [17:28] Why wouldn't you go to somebody and say there was a terrible tragedy, he accidentally drowned. [17:33] But no. [17:34] They gonna throw away all of the evidence that is germane to find out what happened. [17:40] And it's only after his mother raised all kind of hell. [17:45] And before they are searching for what happened, Minister Dominique Alexander and the activists in Dallas, they'll say no. [17:53] Something happened to Daniel Irving. [17:56] We gotta get to the bottom of this. [17:58] Then and only then, Marquerelle, does the young people come forward to the authorities with their parents. [18:05] And they say, well, we were there. [18:09] And they confessed that they threw away his cell phone and his calls and they deleted the messages. [18:16] And so law enforcement arrested and charged and arrested them after three months. [18:22] Three months passed. [18:23] Not until Nolan Wells started making the news that they finally come. [18:27] And they arrest them, but not for the death of Daniel Irving. [18:34] They arrest them with tempering with evidence. [18:37] And that's it. [18:39] And what his mother is saying, what Attorney DeRue is saying, what Attorney Brooke Cruz is saying is simply this. [18:46] If they would lie about his cell phone and throw it away. [18:51] If they would lie about his clothes and throw it away. [18:55] If they would lie about deleting text messages between Daniel and them. [19:00] How can you believe it when they say it was an accidental drowning? [19:05] They need to take this case to a grand jury. [19:08] You're going to hear from this mother talking about other things that don't add up. [19:15] About the conduct of the boys immediately after the drowning, the Alayas drowning. [19:22] It's so critically important that we remember Daniel Irving as well. [19:27] And then, Attorney Park, Attorney Cruz, we talk about Tyler Smith. [19:32] And I'll just try to paint the picture real quickly for you. [19:35] And then you'll hear from these parents. [19:37] These program-hearted parents. [19:41] Fourth of July. [19:42] You can't make this stuff up, Congresswoman Bailey. [19:45] Attorney Day is Fourth of July. [19:50] Same Fourth of July, 2026, when Nolan goes missing. [19:55] Tyler Smith, in Lexington, Kentucky, is the only black person in the home where they're having a Fourth of July small house party. [20:12] Somehow, Tyler ends up being shot in his head. [20:19] Dead. [20:23] 9-1-1. [20:27] The police get there that he shot himself that they were playing Russian Roulette. [20:40] That's what they say. [20:43] They say, this is the gun. [20:47] The police retrieve the gun. [20:49] And then they take the word as the gospel that he shot himself. [20:57] They don't do gunshot residue on the hands of Tyler or nobody else. [21:04] I mean, basic investigation 101. [21:08] If you say he shot himself, wouldn't you bag his hands? [21:12] And wouldn't you test it for gunshot residue? [21:14] But they don't do that. [21:16] And you're going to hear from his grandmother and his mother as to the explanation. [21:21] The impoverished and plausible explanation that they offered them. [21:29] And the fact that the gun, President Morial, that they claimed he used to shoot himself with the police after they do analysis, it does not match the cases that they found on the floor to where he shot himself at. [21:50] So, still, they are taking their word for it. [21:57] And it's seven days later. [21:59] Right, Ms. Leesley? [22:01] Seven days later. [22:03] They then say, who I was in the house, they have to identify everybody who was in the home. [22:10] And then they have to track down, well, if this is not the gun that caused the death of Tyson Smith, well, where's the gun at? [22:20] So, they have to go investigate and they go surround one of the young men's houses and he married and they surround the house. [22:28] He doesn't come and volunteer after knowing that they're trying to find out and get evidence about what happened to Tyler Smith and come forward voluntarily. [22:39] They have to go to this house and surround him and then he comes out and finally he volunteers that this is the gun. [22:46] Think about that, Catherine Trey. [22:48] Just think about that for a second. [22:50] You would think, after all of that, he is surely going to be arrested and charged with killing or being in some way responsible for the death of this 18-year-old young black man. [23:06] But no, he is only charged with tempering with evidence, correct, Ms. Leesley? [23:11] Nothing more. [23:13] And nobody in all three of the questionable deaths of these 18-year-old young black kids, nobody has been held accountable in any way. [23:28] And so, that's why we're here, saying that we are not deterrent, we're not going to let you sweep it under the rug, we're going to get to the answers of what happened to Nolan Wells, what happened to Daniel Irvings, and what happened to Lionel Smith, three 18-year-old black boys in a three-month period around 4th of July 2026 who all were unaligned. [23:57] In very similar ways as Nolan Wells, and I'm very thankful to his parents for using the attention that they were given and blessed to also give attention to these other 18-year-old black boys. [24:13] Thank you, Christine. [24:14] Thank you so much, dear boy. [24:16] At this time, before we get to your questions, you're going to hear briefly from attorney Eric Hurts, and then attorney Lisa Fort, some updates, and then you're going to hear from Nolan Wells' parents. [24:29] Thank you for showing up. [24:31] I have some brief updates on the Nolan Wells' case. [24:32] We have been working with the district attorney. [24:37] We've gotten a letter back yesterday, and she's willing to listen to some of the evidence we have, although we're having to still discuss her giving us back evidence, and that's something that we will see. [24:59] The phones, not just our clients' phones, but the other phones that are involved in this situation, we are trying to coordinate and have come to a tentative agreement with the district attorney to go ahead and have them investigated together jointly with our experts as well as their experts, and I believe, if I'm not speaking out of attorney, the FBI is going to also be present there. [25:29] And that's going to show a lot of stuff that we haven't seen. [25:32] I always say, and I would like to say one more time, society is judged by how the most powerful treats the most vulnerable, and justice will prevail. [25:48] Thank you. [25:49] Thank you very much, attorney Eric Hurts. [25:54] And now we will hear briefly from attorney Lisa Park, who hands up our Atlanta, Georgia office, and have been putting on this. [26:04] So today I just want to recognize all of these families for coming here today, traveling here to Nashville, even family that's here in the audience. [26:18] If you think for just a moment, for these tragedies, they really just happened. [26:27] They really just happened. [26:28] If you've never had a loved one that you've lost, it's hard. [26:34] And you feel like going into a quiet place by yourself, mourning, grieving, doing all of our own religious rituals, right? [26:47] And so it's quite hard that these families have had to come into the spotlight to stand up for their children. [26:57] This is not where they want to be. [26:59] And for those people who somehow think that they want to be in the spotlight, I guarantee you, this is not where they want to be. [27:11] For all of these families, for every single family member that is suffering through these losses. [27:18] So I want to commend all of these families. [27:21] I also want to commend them for coming together as a group, right? [27:26] Because all of us, we are stronger together. [27:31] We are stronger together. [27:34] And there are so many unanswered questions for all three of these cases. [27:39] But there's hope. [27:41] And I see that hope because we do get calls. [27:45] We have been getting over 100 calls a day. [27:50] And I want to thank everybody who's called in. [27:54] Because for every time there's a hater that's saying that these people just weren't the spotlight, [28:02] when somebody calls in with some encouragement, when somebody calls in with some information, it makes up for that. [28:10] Because we know that we're stronger together. [28:14] This, these questions, these cases can be solved. [28:20] And we can do it together. [28:22] So I want to thank everybody for calling, right? [28:25] But I also, last thing, I want to encourage those who have not called yet. [28:31] And you know that you have some information. [28:33] One, I know that it's scary. [28:35] I know that you may be scared. [28:38] But if there's a time in your life to do the right thing, this is it. [28:44] And you just have to be brave. [28:46] And go ahead and please call us. [28:50] These people, we need to. [28:53] We need to. [28:54] Thank you. [28:55] Thank you. [28:56] Thank you. [28:59] Thank you. [29:00] Thank you, Julie. [29:01] And as Nolan's mother and father get ready to come, I cannot express to you how encouraged we are that we're going to get to the truth. [29:14] I mean, so many things are coming to light. [29:17] And we're going to get to the truth. [29:19] We are not trying to cast dispersions on anybody. [29:24] We want the truth. [29:25] We want the truth. [29:26] That's what we want. [29:28] And like we said, if that implication or exonerate you, then you got to talk to your Lord. [29:35] You got to talk to your God. [29:36] But we want the truth. [29:38] And then we want the truth. [29:39] And if it was your child, you would want the same thing. [29:44] And so that's why everybody who got children, you could understand the pain, the agony that this mother and father have been dealing with. [29:57] Since 4th of July. [29:58] How people came timely within hours of finding him saying, well, no foul play, just gone. [30:09] How do you tell somebody to just go on when my son is dead and nobody's giving us any answers? [30:19] All those people out on that island. [30:21] And you mean nobody know nothing? [30:23] Nobody saw anything? [30:25] No, we refuse to accept that nobody knows nothing. [30:30] We're going to get to the truth. [30:31] We're going to get to the truth. [30:32] We're going to get to the truth. [30:33] We're going to get to the truth. [30:34] And it's starting to come to life. [30:35] Because truth is life. [30:36] And we're going to get to the truth. [30:37] Y'all give it up for the mother and father of Nolan Wells, Ed and Christine. [30:51] Thank you all for being here today. [30:53] It has been 27 days since we have been able to talk to our son, to hug him, to tell him [31:15] we love him. [31:16] This has been the most difficult time we have ever had. [31:26] I want to tell you who Nolan was. [31:31] Nolan was a God-fearing, God-loving child. [31:37] He loved everyone. [31:41] He was the person who would just make you feel comfortable just being in this space. [31:50] He was never one to exclude. [31:53] He always wanted everyone to be happy, to feel good, to have purpose. [32:00] He would lift anyone up. [32:02] It didn't even matter if he didn't know you. [32:04] If you took that moment to just tell him a little bit about yourself, what you wanted [32:11] to do with your life, right then and there, Nolan would be your biggest cheerleader. [32:15] Today we are begging, because I'm not too proud today. [32:23] We are begging, if anyone knows anything, his friends, strangers, please call the hotline, [32:37] because we will not be able to rest until we get answers. [32:42] But please understand that all of these distractions, these other questions that people, the attacks, [32:50] people have sent far away, just know we will not be distracted. [32:59] We are ready to do whatever we need to do as his parents to continue advocating for him, [33:06] because Nolan is not here. [33:08] He is not here to speak for himself. [33:12] He is not here to tell us what happened. [33:15] So again, we will not rest until we get answers. [33:20] And if you know something, you need to let us know. [33:24] Please do not be afraid. [33:26] Okay? [33:28] Thank you all so much again. [33:30] We truly appreciate your love and support. [33:34] Thank you. [33:35] I'm facing a challenge every morning, making a process. [33:54] It's the biggest challenge I have ever had. [34:03] I pretty much was raised up like a lot of you. [34:08] I didn't have a lot. [34:09] But I always said I wanted to feed my children more than what I had. [34:13] I think, I think to me and my wife are big. [34:20] We raised Nolan to love everyone, be kind to everyone, because it was just the right thing to do. [34:31] I got a lot of stuff going, but what I really want to say is, like my wife said, if you know something, [34:44] and you are really, if Nolan was really your best friend, or for the people who say that he was their friend, [34:51] please come forward and tell us what you know. [34:56] All we want to know is the truth. [34:58] We're not naming anyone. [35:00] We just want to know the truth. [35:03] Any parent will be. [35:07] Also, the disrespect that's coming toward my wife and my family. [35:19] For any parent, no matter where race you are, they need time to grieve. [35:26] A parent can't grieve when you have people attacking them, attacking their jobs, attacking their character. [35:34] Just attacking them, period. [35:36] Where is the empathy in it? [35:38] We, as Americans, this is a diverse country. [35:44] Not only one race made this country. [35:50] We all made this race. [35:51] Made this country. [35:52] So, if we all need to come together, and like I said, if we know something, please come forward and just call our attorneys. [36:04] Give them information. [36:06] And they'll take them and just help us out. [36:10] And not just us, but all these families. [36:12] All these families who are counselors. [36:14] Anyone with information on any one of these cases, please come forward. [36:18] Because being a child is something that's going to do with this life. [36:24] Thank you. [36:27] Thank you. [36:28] And, President Mario, I would just say, the tax, I mean, Christine has been a nurse for years. [36:38] And she hasn't ever gotten negative reviews. [36:41] But since she has been advocating to find out what happened to her 18-year-old son after he was washed up dead on Horn Island, [36:52] sick people have been going on her company's website giving her negative reviews. [37:00] Can you all imagine anything worse than that? [37:04] That is a shame for God. [37:06] They are just sick, evil people who would attack this mother and this father for simply saying, [37:14] we want to know what happened to our child. [37:17] Don't worry, Christine. [37:19] We're standing with you. [37:20] We are standing with you. [37:22] Next, we're going to have the mother of Daniel Irvin come and talk about her child. [37:33] And tell you what happened in her words. [37:37] And then you'll hear brief remarks from Attorney John Doreen. [37:41] Thank you, Mr. Crump. [38:02] Tampering charges in this case is absolutely unacceptable. [38:06] Tampering in itself means that someone intentionally hid, destroyed, or altered evidence. [38:18] If the district attorney's office has that evidence, take that evidence, put it together, and present it to a new grand jury. [38:29] If the district attorney's office doesn't want to do it, we are calling on an independent investigation by the Department of Justice. [38:42] Because we are here for the truth. [38:45] And one last point I want to add to what Mr. Crump said. [38:50] Daniel Irving, when these boys said that he drowned, he was a high school swimmer. [38:57] He was on the swim team. [38:59] He was a healthy young 18-year-old male. [39:01] So that story that he drowned accidentally, it doesn't add up. [39:05] It does not add up if we want the truth. [39:19] And law enforcement are supposed to be protecting and serving. [39:26] But my question today is, who are they protecting and which communities are they serving? [39:32] What we want to know is why crimes against black and brown people receive less justice and less coverage. [39:42] And I'm going to give you some data until that kid I've got to be reading because I don't want to make any mistakes here. [39:46] Over a 10-year period, statistics show that 53% of black killings go uncharged. [39:55] And so that means over half of those related killings are never prosecuted. [40:03] And when you think about arrest rates, 63% of white victims receive justice versus or compared to 47% of black victims. [40:13] So when people think we have two systems of justice in this country, the data kind of acts better. [40:22] And now we'll hear from Teresa. [40:24] My name is Tameka Irving. I am the mother of Daniel Irving. [40:41] This is my daughter Azaria Irving. This is Daniel's eldest sister. [40:49] So what a lot of you guys don't know, to give you some context, my son told me that he was going to go outside and hang with some friends. [41:03] And I was under the understanding that he would be in the neighborhood. [41:07] So I didn't know where my son was. I thought that he was just visiting friends in the neighborhood. [41:16] Around eight o'clock or so, I started to text Mike, call Mike. [41:25] And Mike was, he was an honorable child. He wanted to serve and protect me in the military. He loved people. [41:32] He always had a joke to tell. He was very comical. So I called the police the following day at 1230 in the morning. [41:43] And I said, Hey, my son ID is here. And his money is here. His social security is here. And I don't know where he's at. And this is not like him. So I'm reporting him missing under suspicious circumstances. [41:55] The officers were very dismissive. So I didn't, I didn't get any information about where my son was. I canvassed the neighborhood. I knocked on doors. I asked neighbors for video footage. I had to do the footwork, the research, the investigating. I had to do it. [42:33] So to, to the mothers, to anyone out there who have a loved one, do not wait for the police to do their job. [42:43] Okay. So, so fast forward. I reported my son missing. My son was to graduate in May. He was unable to graduate because the two boys murdered my son. [43:02] They said my son jumped off a bridge. And I know that's not the truth. He was found in water. And not only that, my son was on the swim team. He was very comfortable with swimming in the pool, swimming in lakes. [43:21] The autopsy report shows my son had an unobstructed airway. So my son did not drown. I want to know why the people that are in place to serve and protect failed to do their job from the very start. [43:43] When I reported my son missing, it took them 35 hours, over 35 hours to input his information only in the state system showing that he was missing. They failed to enter his information in the NCIC, the National Criminal Database. [44:06] Being my son was under 21. My enforcement had a responsibility to enter his information within two hours and they failed to hear it. My son will fight for me and I'm here to fight for him. I want justice. We are in the pursuit of justice. [44:31] Justice and Daniel Irving. Justice Daniel Irving. And the final family you will hear from is going to be the family of Tyler Smith who many of you haven't heard of at all. And I want to have his family who drove from Lexington, Kentucky to the National Urban League Convention to say that Tyler Smith life matters too. [45:01] I want to thank everyone for showing up today, supporting all these families. I was asked many times, who is Tyler? What does Tyler mean to you? And I had to take a deep dive into that because to give a few words, [45:39] words would be justice. So I went into my prayer closet, as most names do. And see, Tyler calls me names. And when people ask me to tell them, I find a struggle in finding words big enough to describe who he is. [45:57] Tyler is what he is. Tyler is what he is. Tyler is. Tyler is the passion of tolerance. Tyler is focus and determination. Tyler is an entrepreneur with dreams, ghost, and a vision for his future. [46:14] Tyler is a calming presence, a peacemaker, and a source of comfort to those around him. Tyler is that warm piece of cake straight out of the oven. That soft buttermilk biscuit that the butter glides across the top. [46:29] Tyler is the depth of a baby's laughter and the warmth of a grandmother's hug. Tyler is what many people spend a lifetime searching for, but never fully find a genuine soul with a kind heart and a beautiful spirit. [46:44] For me, Tyler is much more than all of those things. He's my motivation, my determination, the wind beneath my wings. Even in his absence, he continues to give me strength. He has become a part of the reason I stand. The part of the reason that I keep moving forward. [47:03] When I received that call at 6 a.m. that morning that my grandson had been involved in the shooting, I thought, okay, hand, foot, and I arrived upon the scene of the hospital and found out that this was a gunshot wound to the head. Again, I'm a prayer mother. I have a son who a year ago had a near fatal car accident. I know what God can do. [47:38] I can't take you. I've seen him. I've watched him open back. I've watched him know how to walk and talk. And I comforted his grandfather and said, don't worry about this. We've already been through this fire. It'll be okay. [47:53] When the physician came out and pronounced my grandson. And she stated, self-inflicted, accidental. I told her, you're a liar. And there is no truth in it. [48:09] I asked her immediately. I said, how do you have this evidence for you to know this? She said, because they said. I said, they said? She said, yes. As days progressed, my family and I began to move forward. [48:30] We got no, none, effort, energy at all from the Lexington Fayette County Police Department. We were told that we needed to accept accidental, self-inflicted. They offered no traces of gun residue, even though I called the coroner's office and the police department. [48:54] And I begged and begged and begged, please, bag his hands. No child, and I say child because it's relative. No one was searched on the scene. [49:07] They took an investigation as a total from all five of these young people and said, they said, this is what happened. I asked for gun residue on anyone. The answer that I was given, well, there's no need to bag his hands. Everyone in this room would have gun residue on them. [49:29] That was their excuse to me. When they moved my grandson in an expedient manner, not to our local coroner's office, but to the state capitol, which I was told wouldn't happen until that following Monday, miraculously, in two hours, he was on his way to the medical examiner in the capitol. [49:51] On Monday morning, at 10 a.m., they came back and told me, again, accidental, self-inflicted. For 17 days, my sons and I worked tirelessly investigating everything on our own. [50:10] The police department gave us nothing, absolutely nothing. They treated me as if I were a pirate, asking all the wrong questions. [50:21] Why do you need to know? We've handed you that carrot already. Take a bite. Settle down. It's accidental. Self-inflicted. [50:29] As I talked to the police chief, I explained to him, he said, well, what do you want from this? What are you looking for? I said, what would you be looking for? [50:41] Exactly. Exactly. [50:43] I want transparency. I want to simply do the job that you were paid to do. [50:51] My family never asked you for a lot of people. We just asked you to earn the paycheck that you either receive this week or the next. [51:02] We ask you to simply, the same way you go into our black and brown neighborhoods, and you can investigate, and you can interrogate, and you can charge. [51:12] We must have the same respect. [51:14] Tyler is loved. Tyler is loved. He's loved. But most importantly, Tyler calls her mama. Tyler calls me pepper. That's my baby, bro. He's my baby. [51:34] It will be my dying breath to say his name. No stone will go unturned. I'm not afraid to go be held and sit with the devil. [51:43] I want to know. I want transparency. I want someone to speak on it. Continue to say our names. Continue to say our children today. [51:56] We deserve answers. We deserve justice. We deserve transparency. That's all we're asking for. [52:05] And I thank you all so much for the time and the space that you have given everyone of us. [52:12] Justice for Tyler Smith. Justice for Tyler Smith. Justice for Tyler Smith. Justice for Tyler Smith. [52:20] Justice for Tyler Smith. Justice for Tyler Smith. [52:22] And we're going to get to the truth on Tyler. I promise you. We're going to get to the truth on what happened to Tyler Smith. [52:29] And at this time, President Mario, we're going to ask that the commswoman just said a free word if you didn't take questions. [52:37] Yes, that was, CBC. Thank you all very much. [52:41] Let me simply say the two most powerful words we can say. [52:44] To you as families, to the Urban League family, to you, President and CEO, and my good friend, to you, Attorney Ben Krohn. [52:52] Thank you. But let me just say, the Congressional Black Caucus, we aren't just coming today. [53:00] We communicated with Attorney Crump, with President Mark Morial, and we stand with you. [53:08] And I'll end with your words, Mark. [53:11] We're going to let justice roll down like a stream and righteousness like mighty waters. [53:19] We are the Congressional Black Caucus. We stand for you, for justice, transparency, and righteousness. [53:28] Thank you, and God bless you. [53:31] This has been moving and powerful. [53:36] We want to take questions from members of the media, members of the media, if anyone in the working media has a question for Attorney Crump. [53:48] And please identify yourselves speaking loudly. Go ahead. [54:07] Yes, ma'am. And that's an excellent question, because thank God for us being able to get the national attention of Nolan Wells' case. [54:17] And that doesn't happen just by coincidences. [54:21] A lot of the civil rights community, a lot of the activists, I mean, Reverend Al, people like Byron Allen, Tyler Perry, [54:29] everybody on social media is coming to say, no, no, this ain't adding up. [54:34] We got to find out what happened to Nolan Wells. [54:36] And then we get contacted by our good friend, Attorney Sean DeRue, saying that, hey, we got a similar case, Attorney Crump, [54:46] where you co-counsel with us, and Attorney Crump will start working with them. [54:51] And then we get a call to the cause, Sean, President Mariel. [54:55] And I simply can't believe what happened to Titus Smith. [55:00] It shocks my conscience. [55:02] And so Kareem Mowley and Cliff Jones, my investigators, they started to investigate. [55:07] And we're saying, this can't be true. [55:09] They really didn't do a test on their hands. [55:13] I mean, that's basic. [55:14] And so it hits me that all of them are 18-year-old black kids that died in very questionable circumstances [55:26] when Nolan was the only black kid on the boat, [55:34] Daniel was the only black kid alleged on a fishing trip, [55:39] and Tyler was the only black kid at the 4th of July celebration park, house park. [55:47] And all of them are 18-years-old. [55:50] Look at the dates. [55:52] I mean, that's eerie when you look at the dates. [55:55] February 8th, Tyler Smith is born. [56:00] July 4th, 2026. [56:03] He is dead. [56:04] Can I see the other one? [56:06] This is Daniel Irving. [56:08] I mean, he's born November 21st, 2007. [56:14] He is dead on April 17th, 2026. [56:20] Where's that? [56:21] Um, Nolan Wales, born August 19th, 2007. [56:31] He is dead in July of 2026. [56:36] The day is yet to be determined. [56:39] All of these young black kids were born in 2007. [56:46] And all three of these black kids died 2026, 18 years of age, on the cusp of manhood. [56:56] And I said, no, we got to show that this is not a coincidence that all these young 18-year-old black men are ending up dead and nobody's been held accountable. [57:11] No, we got to bring them home. [57:13] We got to bring them home. [57:15] We must bring them home. [57:16] We got to bring them home. [57:17] We got to bring them home. [57:18] We got to bring them home. [57:19] We got to bring them home. [57:22] Let me also, our members who were planning to come to Nashville asked me late last week if we would be commenting on, dealing with, shedding any light on the Nova Wells case. [57:38] In the course of that conversation, he shared with me, by the way, there are two other similar cases. [57:54] I said, two other similar cases. [58:00] I said, then, can you bring all of the things you asked me about? [58:06] Because the thousands of urban leaders who are here are interested in it, have a solidarity with it, want to hear directly, not through filters, about the circumstances of these cases. [58:24] And that is what the National Urban Union Conference is all about. [58:28] It is about dealing with the pressing, cutting-edge issues that face the nation and face black America. [58:37] So we are here because this is what we do. [58:40] Whether it is Trayvon Martin back in the early teens, Michael Brown, George Floyd, Sandra Graham, Leona Taylor, Tamir Rice, we deal with these issues because our constituency wants to hear directly. [59:03] And I want to say this. [59:04] We trust Ben Parker. [59:06] And we know that he does not engage in chasing false cases. [59:17] That he also, when he takes a case, that he's going to elevate the word and the personality and the pain of the families. [59:30] All too often, when black families are victims of violence and victims of unfair justice system, they suffer in silence. [59:45] They can't find lawyers. [59:47] With the courage and the ability, they suffer in silence. [59:51] So I know when Ben Parker has a matter, he is always welcome at the National Urban League Conference to come and bring us up to date. [1:00:03] And that's why we're here and ask other press questions. [1:00:07] Any others? [1:00:08] Yes, ma'am. [1:00:10] Identify yourself, please. [1:00:14] New York Post. [1:00:19] Whose name? [1:00:20] Yeah, we know about the press, but we're ready for it. [1:00:23] This attack, this threat to sue us and the family for defamation, this is a distraction. [1:00:29] We're not distracted by it at all. [1:00:32] And it's about getting to the truth. [1:00:34] That's what we want. [1:00:35] And that's what we're focused on. [1:00:37] We haven't done anything other than ask questions to get to the truth. [1:00:44] Okay. [1:00:45] Another word. [1:00:47] That accusation doesn't assume response. [1:01:05] That's right. [1:01:06] It has no dignity. [1:01:07] Right. [1:01:09] Associated with someone standing up for children who have died. [1:01:15] We don't waste our time arguing with donkeys. [1:01:20] We don't waste our time arguing with people who want to distract from the real issue. [1:01:26] We have three dead black young men. [1:01:30] Whoa. [1:01:31] Whoa. [1:01:31] Under suspicious circumstances. [1:01:33] And I don't think the New York Post ought to give elevation to distractions like that. [1:01:44] This is such a long story. [1:01:46] We fight for justice and someone suggests all we want is publicity. [1:01:53] That's right. [1:01:53] You know what happens when we stand here? [1:01:56] Our inboxes are filled with hate messages. [1:01:59] Hate them now. [1:02:00] Hate this. [1:02:01] Hate this. [1:02:01] Hate that. [1:02:02] No one. [1:02:04] Our dignity in standing up. [1:02:09] And I'm not. [1:02:10] You're a reporter. [1:02:11] You work for the paper. [1:02:12] You work for the paper. [1:02:13] Your editors told you to ask this question. [1:02:14] I want you to know we will not be distracted. [1:02:17] And I'm not gonna. [1:02:18] Ben Crump is like any lawyer. [1:02:21] He should get paid for his work. [1:02:26] Just like every Wall Street lawyer. [1:02:33] Every Trump lawyer. [1:02:37] Every insurance defense lawyer. [1:02:40] And I really want everyone to understand. [1:02:46] Let's not be distracted. [1:02:49] Let's not give oxygen. [1:02:53] Let's not give air to haters and distractors and dissuaders. [1:03:02] So thank you for your question. [1:03:03] I will not ever surrender the fact that I am a miracle. [1:03:45] However, we celebrate Juneteenth. [1:03:49] I don't necessarily celebrate July 4th, but I know it as an important day. [1:03:55] And I'm not going to fall into the trap that some want to. [1:04:01] I fly the American flag in front of my house. [1:04:04] But on the other side of my porch, I fly the Juneteenth flag. [1:04:13] And we are not going to let anyone diminish our birthright, our constitutional right, [1:04:22] our birthright to be treated fairly and justly in this country. [1:04:28] It is very difficult and challenging in these times. [1:04:34] But we are not going to be tricked. [1:04:36] We're not going to be dissuaded. [1:04:39] We're not going to be distracted. [1:04:41] I am an American. [1:04:44] I am an African American. [1:04:48] I am a black American. [1:04:52] And I'm proud to be one. [1:04:54] But I think we need to clearly understand that African Americans, black people, and civil [1:05:04] white standards have always been the conscience of this country. [1:05:09] Amen. [1:05:10] They have always been loyal to the nation, even in the most challenging times. [1:05:15] You know? [1:05:16] And I'm not going to suggest this is easy for us. [1:05:20] But what we're not going to allow is people to marginalize us, treat us like second-class [1:05:26] citizens, or suggest that somehow, let me tell you what a true patriot is. [1:05:32] A true patriot stands up for justice. [1:05:36] A true patriot stands up for the families and the victims of violence. [1:05:45] A true patriot holds the justice system accountable, doesn't make excuses for an unjust justice system. [1:05:55] So we've got to understand that we're not going to be tricked and cornered into people suggesting [1:06:04] because we stand up for justice. [1:06:08] We're something other than a true and full patriot in this country. [1:06:12] That's the way I feel. [1:06:14] I said last night, I was born in a segregated hospital, born in a segregated city. [1:06:23] I watched my parents and their friends fight and litigate and march to open doors of opportunity. [1:06:34] The reason why these times are so tough and why they're so difficult is because if we are not careful [1:06:42] and if we are not vigilant and diligent, our children and grandchildren will be relitigating [1:06:49] the battles of our parents. [1:06:51] This movement in this country to turn back the hands of time is palpable. [1:07:01] So when we stand up for these families, and we'll stand up for other families, and we'll stand up for other people, [1:07:10] we are doing it because we are true patriots. [1:07:14] We're doing it because we believe in justice. [1:07:16] We do it because we're going to hold the justice system accountable. [1:07:20] We call this Urban League movement as a mission, and its mission is something we will not surrender. [1:07:31] Like the Congressional Black Caucus says, we have no permanent friends, we have no permanent enemies, [1:07:39] we only have permanent interests. [1:07:42] So thank you for your question. [1:07:44] And let me say this before we go to the final two questions. [1:07:47] You know, we, as African Americans, as Debbie Greenwood said, we have this duality. [1:07:57] I mean, on one hand, we know that when the founders wrote the Constitution, [1:08:03] they never expected that it would, the rights would apply to us. [1:08:10] But like my personal hero, Thurgood Marshall said, I know they didn't intend it to apply to us, [1:08:16] but we're going to make it a protest anyway because we are American citizens. [1:08:21] And if anybody built this country, it was our ancestors with the boiling and the cotton fields. [1:08:30] I mean, doing the things that made this very young country become such a prosperous country [1:08:37] at such an early age in this infancy. [1:08:41] I mean, when you think about what slavery did to elevate America, that were our ancestors. [1:08:49] So, yes, I'm going to celebrate the 4th of July essence every year because my ancestors built this joint. [1:08:57] And then I'm really going to celebrate on the Juneteenth because I know that is what we do to acknowledge our ancestors. [1:09:07] Just like Jewish Americans celebrate the 4th of July and their important dates, [1:09:14] just like Italian Americans celebrate the 4th of July and their important dates, [1:09:19] just like Spanish Americans celebrate the 4th of July and important dates to them. [1:09:25] Black people, we celebrate the 4th of July because we built America. [1:09:34] To any end, and I want the TV to them that's going to be it. [1:09:38] Go ahead. [1:09:39] I have Sean speak briefly to Daniel Urban, but that's why I was brought in to bring attention to Daniel Urban. [1:10:03] In case, Sean, any day that you're going to be fighting and not being in progress, we're going to be cast. [1:10:10] We have not had any progress with the Dallas County District Attorney's Office. [1:10:15] We are planning, Mr. Crump and I, to meet with the District Attorney if he will meet us and we want to talk about this case. [1:10:22] We're going to talk about this evidence and we want to move this forward and we want murder charges. [1:10:27] Is that right, Mr. Crump? [1:10:27] You know, one of the things that Sean and Tamika said when she said that there was a witness after the drowning that said Tamika, the young man was limping when he came back. [1:10:42] And that was part of the investigation. [1:10:44] And she's saying, well, why didn't y'all explore that? [1:10:47] Like, why are you limping? [1:10:49] You're saying my son jumped off the bridge. [1:10:51] Well, that's going to cause you to limping. [1:10:53] Yes, that is true. [1:10:56] And there was a witness that provided video footage via flash drive to the detectives and they failed to enter that information in the probable cause affidavit. [1:11:17] The witness also said that the detectives just grossly overlooked that and they failed to enter that information. [1:11:27] Again, I know that Daniel did not drown and tampering with evidence is offensive for the murder they committed. [1:11:41] I would just respond to this here on why I'm saying his mother believes her child was murdered. [1:11:49] We are still trying to get all the information, attorney DeRay and I, but she does not believe her son, unvoiced, went into a lake, a high school swimmer, had drowned. [1:12:04] She just isn't accepting that. [1:12:06] And she has a right as a parent to question that. [1:12:10] As it relates to Tyler Smith, we're going to have more information coming forward because of the hard work of his mother and grandmother. [1:12:19] And we think the shoe is about to drop on that and we're going to meet with the district attorney. [1:12:24] We haven't yet, but we're going to meet with them because people are starting to come forward. [1:12:31] And I can't thank the parents of Nolan Wells because people are coming forward in their case. [1:12:37] That's inspiring people to come forward in Tyler Smith's case as well. [1:12:40] So thank you all for coming forward. [1:12:43] She had the last name. [1:12:45] Okay. [1:12:46] Black. [1:12:46] My message would be that we have to have tough conversations. [1:13:14] This is something our community already knows. [1:13:17] We have to make sure that, and I know my husband and I, we have had countless conversations with all of our children about the importance of understanding when you are moving in different spaces. [1:13:31] With people that do not look like you. [1:13:34] And it's unfortunate that we have to have these conversations, but they are needed in order to hopefully keep our children safe. [1:13:44] So I would say to all the mothers out there, especially my black mothers, we just have to keep pushing forward. [1:13:55] We have to do the things to protect our children. [1:13:58] Any last questions? [1:14:01] What did you say about your culture? [1:14:05] And others. [1:14:07] I believe that there is a difference in your start. [1:14:11] I mean, this is so tragic, but this is why I'm [1:14:42] like Ben Crump. [1:14:43] This is why when families face these types of challenges, they need good counsel. [1:14:50] That's right. [1:14:51] They should not wallow and try to handle it themselves. [1:14:55] They shouldn't just go to community leaders and politicians, although that's important. [1:15:01] They need good counsel. [1:15:03] They need good civil rights counsel. [1:15:05] They need people like Ben Crump or Lee Merritt, and there are many, many others around the [1:15:10] nation who do this kind of important work. [1:15:14] And I just encourage families that face cases of injustice, cases where they want answers, [1:15:23] to work to get good counsel. [1:15:25] So if we at Urban League, our affiliates, we can call us all the time. [1:15:31] And what we try to do is guide them in the right direction. [1:15:34] We try to help them identify counsel or people. [1:15:38] And that is really, really important the case. [1:15:41] I want to confront the question you asked about this. [1:15:46] Something in this country, whenever a black person is the victim of an act of injustice, [1:15:57] why is it when we seek justice, we get this sneer campaign of playing a race card? [1:16:06] I have seen this living for many, many, many years. [1:16:12] And we are going to call it out because we are not going to be enslaved, distracted, [1:16:22] or intimidated for standing up for members of our community. [1:16:29] Let the charges come. [1:16:31] I say it's like they're blowing bubbles. [1:16:35] It's just a lot of rhetoric, it's nasty, and it's hateful. [1:16:41] But you know what I found? [1:16:42] By every loud person attacking us, there's 15 quiet people who represent silent supporters of justice. [1:16:55] They may not speak out, they may not go on social media, but they're in solidarity. [1:17:02] And we have to remember that. [1:17:04] The loudest voices in the room are not the most important voices in the room. [1:17:12] Let me thank you all for coming. [1:17:14] We've got some other activities I'm looking forward to. [1:17:16] Let's thank the front. [1:17:18] Let's, one more time, thank these families for their courage, for their courage, for their courage. [1:17:23] And I want to thank the media for coming out as well. [1:17:26] This press conference in the chair. [1:17:28] Thank you, North Royal and the National Urban League. [1:17:34] Thank you.