Nolan Wells' family calls for probe into teen's death with attorney Ben Crump

[0:00] hearing what was pieced together, it is clear that this situation must have the most thorough [0:11] and objective investigation to lead to justice. [0:18] What we've been told does not make sense. [0:23] And being that there is lack of confidence in the local authorities, [0:30] who have already, in my judgment, seemed to have mishandled where it was going. [0:37] Because to just immediately, before a week time, saying there was nothing done wrong, [0:45] when we hear that this young man was engaged in some kind of argument that was on tape, [0:53] that his cell phone and keys ended up with one of the people that were there on the island and got away. [1:02] He was one black with three young white men who happened to end up with his phone, [1:09] happened to end up with his keys. [1:11] Then there's just too many questions that they should not be closing the investigation. [1:19] Now, I'm from Brooklyn, so I'm a little different than some of y'all. [1:25] I was built different. [1:26] My nose is out here, my eyes are here, my brain is here, [1:30] which means some things I could smell before I could see and before I could figure out. [1:36] This does not smell right. [1:38] So some people are saying, Reverend, are y'all bringing in race? [1:44] Well, we're not bringing in race, but we're not discounting race either, [1:49] because we don't know what it is. [1:51] So to tell us don't rush to judgment saying it was racist is fine. [1:56] But then I'm telling you don't rush to judgment saying it was not racism, [2:01] because we do not know. [2:04] We do know what these parents are being told and what the parents have now shared with us does not make sense. [2:13] How do you end up? [2:15] A young, promising football player, not in trouble. [2:19] Mother and daddy at home. [2:21] Everything we tell them to do and be. [2:24] They go on the 4th of July, on the anniversary of this country, going to an island. [2:32] We're outing with his friends. [2:34] And the friends come back and he's left there with some story about he said leave them behind. [2:42] But then by some magic, one of the friends has his keys and his phone. [2:48] Mind you, his mother tracked down the phone. [2:52] They didn't voluntarily tell her they had his phone. [2:56] They didn't voluntarily say they had the keys. [2:58] So if they had not been tracked down, we don't know if they ever would have known where it was. [3:05] Some of this doesn't make sense. [3:07] So we are absolutely a National Action Network and other groups going to rally behind this family. [3:14] I have told them that whatever we can and need to do, we will do it. [3:21] Because this smacks of some of the worst fears that we've had historically, [3:27] not only in Mississippi but in this country. [3:30] And we are there until the end with them. [3:34] I've been asked by the family to be in Mississippi for the funeral to officiate, which I'm going to do. [3:43] We just got off the phone with Tyler Perry, the actor who says he wants to help cover whatever expenses for the funeral. [3:51] We have with us Spike Lee is in the house. [3:54] Many of our people that have always supported families are there. [3:59] This is not about them trying to raise money. [4:03] We're going to take care of that. [4:04] This is about though they've got to keep going forward. [4:07] But we want justice. [4:09] And let the chips fall where they may. [4:12] If it ends up being one way that we suspect was wrong, fine. [4:18] But if it's another way, don't back up and play games with this. [4:23] They are not activists or lawyers. [4:27] So they only want justice for their son. [4:29] I'm an activist. [4:30] When we get there and they say we're heating things up, that's what we do. [4:36] Because sometimes you've got to make people sweat to get the poison out their system. [4:43] I'm the sweat man. [4:44] And they are the parents that want to see justice for their son. [4:48] Let me let you hear from Christine and Elmo Wansley and then Attorney Crump. [4:53] Okay, Attorney Crump and then we'll hear from you. [4:59] Thank you, Reverend Al, for always answering the bell as you have done on so many occasions when families get the worst news of their life. [5:20] And make no mistake about it, Christine and Elmo got the worst news of their life on what was supposed to be a joyous occasion where everybody was celebrating the 4th of July weekend. [5:36] I'm Attorney Ben Crump alone, Attorney Lisa Park, and Jared Preston, and Camila Moore. [5:44] We have the honor and the privilege of having to lead an independent investigation on behalf of the family of Nolan Wells. [5:56] Why do you say we need to be retained to lead an independent investigation? [6:04] It is because the family has distrust of the Mississippi law enforcement officials giving them a fair investigation where their black son ended up dead after going out on a boat with three young white men. [6:26] The history of Mississippi is something that they don't just read about in books, but it's a lived experience for many black Americans. [6:40] It's a lived experience that oftentimes when our children are killed in highly questionable situations that there is this notion that, oh, there was nothing wrong, no foul play, let's just sweep it under the rug. [6:59] Well, we refuse to sweep it under the rug. [7:03] We refuse to just let Nolan Wells' death be in vain. [7:08] We are going to make sure that we get to the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth because Nolan deserves it. [7:20] You're going to hear his mother and father talk about what a wonderful young man he was. [7:26] I mean, doing everything right. [7:29] Reverend Al, he was not only a college student, he was a great athlete, he was a model big brother for his little brothers and sisters, and he was a great son who was on the cusp of becoming a man. [7:46] I mean, Christina Elmore did everything to prepare him for this moment. [7:53] He was so close. [7:55] He was right there. [7:56] You're going to hear his father talk about him having a good football season last year, but this season he was really ready to go to the next level, to go to Division One. [8:09] I mean, the highlights that you're seeing on social media of his athletic proudness. [8:16] I mean, it is all relevant because when you start talking about drowning, I mean, this is a kid who knew how to swim. [8:25] This is a kid who was in tip-top shape. [8:29] He was a superior athlete. [8:31] And so, I'm going to get to that in a moment, these glaring contradictions, but to try to say, oh, we're suggesting it was just an accident and drowning, go ahead and move on. [8:41] Well, they are not accepting it. [8:45] They are not accepting it. [8:48] They want to know that you have not taken the path of least resistance, that you have done a full, complete, thorough, impartial investigation because it cannot be lost on anybody. [9:12] But especially us in the black community. [9:15] If the roles were reversed and you had three young black men on a boat with a young white man and that young white man ended up dead, what kind of investigation would be being conducted by the Mississippi law enforcement officials? [9:39] How many times would those three young black men be interrogated? [9:46] So, all we're asking is the same consideration you would have given if the roles were reversed. [9:55] Give that consideration to this family as well. [9:59] That is our fight. [10:02] The glaring contradictions just jump out at you. [10:06] The fact that he is there with his friends, and you look at all the videos, it seems to be he's the only black on the island, or maybe one other, but not many. [10:24] And so, Jared, you have where a young woman he was talking to says that, well, notice that he was going back to get on the boat with the boys. [10:42] The boys say that Nolan told them he was going to stay and talk to the young woman. [10:51] It's a contradiction. [10:55] They're not saying the same thing. [10:58] One of them is telling the truth. [11:02] One of them is not. [11:04] We have to get to the bottom of that. [11:06] It's important. [11:07] And then the fact, Reverend Al, that they have this video of an argument that is going on. [11:18] And, you know, thank God all young people, they have cell phones, and any time you hear people raising their voice, they start the video. [11:28] And so, you hear on the video, Nolan saying, give me my freaking phone. [11:34] What are you freaking doing? [11:36] And that becomes even more relevant when you think about the story that they are presenting that Nolan chose to stay behind. [11:51] That's what they're saying. [11:52] But his phone, he wouldn't take that with them if he's going to stay behind on an island? [12:01] I mean, we're talking about an 18-year-old kid. [12:04] What teenager would leave their phone behind if they're going to stay on the island? [12:13] What teenager wouldn't take their phone? [12:16] And so, it's not adding up. [12:19] It's not adding up at all. [12:21] The fact, as Reverend Al said, you know, they then take his phone with them. [12:29] His mother, when she finds out that her baby is missing, they start trying to track the phone. [12:43] GPS the phone, they've used Life 360, and they discover that, well, the phone is on land. [12:49] The phone is on land, but you're saying he went missing on the island. [12:56] And so, it's not adding up. [12:59] And so, they go get the phone. [13:01] And you'll hear her tell herself, when her and her sister start going through his phone, [13:07] Jared, they realize that there are deleted messages. [13:12] So, they're trying to figure out, well, why are there deleted messages on his phone? [13:17] I mean, it becomes relevant when you start putting everything together, [13:21] where we can't just say, oh, there's no instance of foul play. [13:26] We're going to get to the truth one way or the other. [13:31] The fact that, and this really makes no sense to me, Reverend Al. [13:37] This notion that, where he drowned, y'all have, I'm sure seeing all the videos out there. [13:47] I mean, if he's drowning, nobody sees him drown. [13:53] Nobody offers assistance. [13:55] Nobody tries to help him. [13:58] I mean, obviously, he stands out. [14:01] He's, I think, the only black person I saw when I'm looking at the videos. [14:07] And if you see him drowning, you mean nobody is going to try to help him? [14:12] It's not adding up. [14:14] It is not adding up. [14:16] And that's why the family, at their behest, we had an independent autopsy being performed. [14:26] And we thank Colin Kaepernick for helping to pay for that independent autopsy. [14:35] And we thank Tyler Perry for helping to pay for the funeral. [14:39] Because, as Reverend Al said, these were just regular parents going about their life. [14:45] They weren't expecting any of this. [14:47] And then we're having to try to hire these experts to be able to go and see if they can retrieve deleted messages. [14:56] We have to have experts, you'll hear from Attorney Park, talk about, you know, where the body came, was found when it was recovered. [15:06] And how long it took to be recovered. [15:09] We think all of those are relevant issues to trying to understand what really happened to Nolan Wales. [15:18] And this independent autopsy is so very important. [15:23] Because we had his body flown from Mississippi to Washington, D.C. [15:31] 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. [15:47] And we are hopeful to get that result in the very near future. [15:54] We were hoping we would have had it today. [15:57] However, as you all know, here in New York, they canceled all the flights yesterday. [16:02] And so it took a long time for his body to get to the medical examiner's office in Washington, D.C. [16:11] But rest assured, as soon as we get those results, we will make them known to you because we believe transparency is very important. [16:22] We want to lead by example. [16:25] We want them to be transparent and we want to be transparent. [16:28] We know they are conducting an autopsy. [16:31] We are waiting on their results as well. [16:34] The final thing I will say is this. [16:38] If there are any people on that island, any young people who recorded videos, who witnessed things, who may have saw Nolan at any time on that island, please, please, please let us know. [17:03] Please call Ben Crump.com, call the 800 number, just any information. [17:12] They are desperate. [17:13] We are in a ferocious pursuit for the truth. [17:19] And, y'all, if it was your child, wouldn't you want everybody who knew something to let you all know? [17:31] This is a hard one, Red, because it's so tragic on so many levels. [17:41] Red, before we bring the parents up, why don't we have attorney Lisa Park, who is helping the head of the investigation with our office. [17:50] My name is Lisa Park. [17:54] I'm the senior attorney for the Ben Crump Law Office in Atlanta. [17:59] It is our honor to work with the family to try to find answers in this case. [18:09] I think that most of you at this point are aware of Ben Crump Law and many of the cases that we represent in this country. [18:20] Some of these cases you don't know anything about until we get involved and we shed some light. [18:28] We explain to the media what has happened and you all let America know what has happened. [18:39] Sometimes cases come and you all already know about it. [18:46] This is one of those cases. [18:48] I saw this in the news before I got a call from Ben. [18:57] This was already huge in social media, already out in general media. [19:06] Why? [19:08] Why? [19:09] Because it doesn't take an attorney. [19:11] It doesn't take a special investigator. [19:14] It doesn't take someone with extreme training to know right off. [19:20] There's something wrong here. [19:22] This is, as Ben has put it, not adding up. [19:31] It is so obvious. [19:33] There are so many people in this country that go missing. [19:39] Right? [19:40] Everybody knows this. [19:41] But this case has captured everybody's attention. [19:45] Think about why. [19:47] You know that something is not right. [19:51] It doesn't take us. [19:52] It doesn't take the Reverend Al Sharpton, Ben Crump to tell you and then think, oh, now I know something's wrong. [20:03] We know something is wrong. [20:05] And for every single person that was in Horn Island, and we know there's about 200 people. [20:13] There's a lot of people. [20:15] We know that Horn Island is a popular place during the holidays. [20:19] It's a popular place on the weekends. [20:22] You have to get there by boat. [20:24] It's the only way to get there. [20:26] You have to leave by boat. [20:29] It's the only way to leave. [20:31] So many people out there, if you are watching this, if you see this, and you are struggling about what to say or what to do, you know what the right thing to do is. [20:47] Call Ben Crump Law. [20:51] There's this thing called the Internet. [20:54] It's very easy to find that number. [20:58] Call us. [20:59] We have an entire call center. [21:01] They are waiting to hear from you. [21:03] If you didn't go to Horn Island, but you've heard something, because people are talking. [21:11] They're talking with each other. [21:13] They may not be calling the police. [21:15] They may not be calling us. [21:17] But you heard something. [21:20] We need to know that. [21:23] We need to know that. [21:24] In America today, so many of us, we want to believe that the last several decades we've made so much progress in our race relations. [21:37] Don't we? [21:38] We want to believe that. [21:39] Whether you're black or you're white or you're Asian, that's what we want to believe. [21:45] We wanted to believe that this past 4th of July when we celebrated 250 years, right? [21:51] If you want to believe that, you've got to be part of the solution. [21:57] You've got to be part of that. [22:00] You have to make it happen. [22:02] And you, if you have information, please call us. [22:06] It is incredibly important. [22:09] People out there, you have answers. [22:11] You may not know exactly what your information means, but if you saw something, say something. [22:20] Please. [22:21] We're going to hear from the parents, and then we'll have Q&A. [22:33] And what I want is when we go to the media, identify yourself and your outlet so we know who is speaking. [22:44] And let me say again that we're standing with this family until the very end and make sure we deal with justice. [22:54] Let's first hear from the mother, Christine Wonsley. [22:58] First of all, I want to say thank you, everyone, for being here. [23:06] This is not how I wanted the world to meet my son, but here we are. [23:15] So, as you know, I'm Christine Wonsley. [23:18] I am Nolan Wills' mom. [23:20] And Nolan was, is, the kindest soul. [23:31] He never met a stranger. [23:33] He loved everybody. [23:37] He didn't care if you were black, white, purple, green, looked like a marshmallow. [23:43] Like, he just wanted everyone to be in peace with one another. [23:49] He just, he loved life, and God gave him this big heart, which always scared us. [24:01] Me and his dad had conversations with him all the time. [24:07] Not just about the importance of understanding our history as black people, but also the importance of how you have to move in certain spaces. [24:21] And it's not us being, well, feeding into racism or the, you know, the stereotypes that comes with that. [24:33] Unfortunately, that is just a matter of fact. [24:37] There have been many cases, many instances that shows it is unfortunately a pattern that he did not like. [24:47] He did not like that there was so much division, and I think that's why God gave him us. [24:53] He was really a peacemaker. [24:55] He wanted, like I said, everyone to be included. [24:59] He never wanted to leave anyone out. [25:01] He just, even at a young age, I don't know, he was, how old was he? [25:08] How old was he? [25:09] No. [25:10] No. [25:11] No. [25:14] He was a baby. [25:15] So his father and I were having a moment. [25:19] And as couples do, and even in that moment, he runs in the room with his diaper on, of course, and he starts dancing. [25:31] Because it was like he could feel the tension. [25:35] He could feel that something wasn't right. [25:38] So he's just, he was just a special kid. [25:42] Like he was a special kid, but again, just heart was so big. [25:47] And, and I'm gonna, we're gonna miss him dearly. [25:57] But we, we are grateful, especially to our friend, Tashima, who actually was one of the people who helped us that night. [26:11] She went and picked up his cell phone from where it was, and then provided that to us. [26:18] Because we were, we of course contacted authorities to figure out who to do the report with. [26:25] Whether it was the county or the city, which then turned into DMR, who I contacted immediately from there. [26:34] And you know, but, so our friend actually, we, when I called her, Nolan is best friends with her two sons, Jalen and Javon. [26:48] When I called her, I said Tashima, have you seen Nolan? He's missing. [26:52] No one has seen him. No one has talked to him. [26:56] The boys were actually with her, her sons. [26:58] So they opened up their Snapchat because a lot of the kids do have their locations where they're tracking one another. [27:05] So one of the boys says, well, it's showing that I think, I can't exactly remember what his location was showing, but my Life 360 location was showing something completely different. [27:19] It was actually showing that his phone was like he was on land. [27:25] And so we ended up, she received the phone from that parent, and then we met up where his car was, which was at a separate location. [27:36] There were issues obtaining the key, but even so, there's just a lot of... [27:43] Tell them about this. [27:45] So I'm going to let my husband tell you about that because he actually went up to the door to get the key, because at that point, I was just not in my right mind. [27:56] This has just been an awful situation. Terrible. [28:01] Elmore, why is he? [28:04] Okay, so the situation with the key. [28:10] When we got to the house, a few of his friends, they were already there, and they were at the door in the house asking questions. [28:21] So when I walked up, they were getting, you know, things were getting kind of tense. [28:26] So I turned to them and told them, I need you guys to calm down. [28:29] I don't do this to me right now. [28:31] I need them to kind of trust me so they can give me something. [28:35] So I was able to calm them down. [28:37] So the guy, he's in one of the pictures. [28:42] He came out of the room half asleep or whatever, half or whatever. [28:47] I think Jack's or whatever. [28:49] And I said, look, I'm Nolan's father. [28:51] I'm here to get his keys so I can get his car. [28:55] I said, oh, he's like, his car's parked in the yard. [28:59] So he was like, I don't know, man. [29:01] I know he's like my brother. [29:02] I said, well, if Nolan was like your brother, would you please go in your room and see if you can find my son's keys so I can take his car home. [29:08] He walks off two or three minutes, come back. [29:12] I can't find the keys. [29:13] I said, okay. [29:14] So at that point, I get the boys and I get to move them out the house because I didn't want them to go into the house and start tearing up these people's houses because they'd never be a hole in the situation. [29:24] So we walk outside by the car. [29:26] One of the guys that was in the house with us, he was on the phone with a girl and the girl told him that Nolan's keys were on top of this Jack's guy's Xbox in the house because apparently she was there with him earlier. [29:40] So he goes back up to the door by herself and five minutes later, the keys come out. [29:46] So now I feel like you're lying to me. [29:48] So now I'm really like in distress with you. [29:53] But as far as that night goes, if I knew anyone who had a boat, I wouldn't have went out that night looking for my son. [30:03] We tried, but I just, I don't have, I don't have friends with boats. [30:07] But if I knew someone with me, I wouldn't have went out that night. [30:12] And it so happened that his coach saw all the stuff on Facebook that next morning and contacted me at like five in the morning, asked me if he wanted to go out. [30:20] And I told him and so within an hour, he was at the dock. [30:24] We met him and we went out. [30:26] We docked the boat, got off the boat, walked on the island, walked a pretty nice stretch, came back, got back on the boat, went around the island, looked, came back around. [30:38] And where we went to, that's where apparently they say that his body flooded up. [30:44] I don't know a lot about water currents or that, but I would have, I would think that we would have saw his body. [30:55] And on the trip there, there was a family that stayed the night on the island, like actually tended out on the island. [31:04] So if he was left, he would have saw a dead family on the island and it was two of the boats docked. [31:12] So he would have had help. [31:13] So I, I just, I don't know. [31:16] I don't know. [31:17] I think we stayed up there for like an hour or a half. [31:21] That's when Jackson County and the sheriff department showed up and they were going to do their rounds. [31:29] And I had a classmate of mine, Hugh and his two boys, they came out and they searched and then they came back and touched me and said the coach boy had finally showed up in airplanes. [31:40] So, dead. [31:42] What is so critical, what Elmore is saying is they went out on Sunday and the tide, if it brought his body up, he went missing on July 4th. [31:57] And they say, his body should have been there on July 5th. [32:01] Why would it not appear to July 6th? [32:04] And that's one of those things that's just not adding up. [32:09] And the fact that if he stayed behind on the island, there were boats there, there were people, somebody had to see something. [32:20] That's why it's not adding up. [32:22] And that's, that's what they're saying. [32:25] It is just not adding up. [32:28] And if he was there two days, somebody on the island would be able to verify that. [32:34] Two days and nobody's come forward to say, no, he was with us or no, we saw him. [32:40] It just does not make sense. [32:42] Make it make sense. [32:45] Just one last thing. [32:48] We want her to talk about the cell phone deleted messages. [32:53] You're talking off mic. [32:54] I'm sorry. [32:55] I thought my voice was loud enough. [32:57] One last thing. [32:59] We want to have Christine talk about the cell phone from her perspective before they tell you who Nolan was. [33:12] And then we'll take your questions. [33:14] So when we made it home, my sister and I actually went through Nolan's cell phone, particularly Snapchat, because that is so popular with the children. [33:31] And when we opened it up, there was nothing. [33:33] There were no saved pictures. [33:36] There were no snaps from that day. [33:40] And we did open it before the 24 hour expiration. [33:44] So we found that very concerning only because anyone who's ever been around Nolan will tell you at social gatherings. [33:56] He's taking videos. [33:58] He's taking pictures. [33:59] He's even come up to me when I'm getting ready to go to bed. [34:03] Hey, mom, come on, take a picture of me. [34:06] You know, like he's just that's that was Nolan. [34:09] So that's why we feel that things may have been deleted was because the fact that there was nothing in either one of his accounts. [34:20] But I do want to say this. [34:23] I would hope that any parent who, God forbid, would be in our situation, I would hope that you would do the same thing. [34:37] I would hope that you would ask for any help, receive any help to get answers, because at the end of the day, that that's all we want. [34:51] We just want to know. [34:52] We just want to know what happened. [34:57] Our baby didn't look like that. [35:01] That's our biggest thing. [35:03] And we are so grateful to everyone, family, friends, classmates, United Cajun Navy, everybody that's assisted us. [35:13] We appreciate you. [35:15] There's not enough thank yous that we could say or give to you. [35:20] But I just, you know, we just want to know. [35:24] We want an honest, thorough investigation. [35:26] That's all we're asking for. [35:28] How about who Nolan was? [35:35] Nolan is a person with a big heart. [35:43] He's loved by not just his family, but the community. [35:49] He's a born people person. [35:56] He really developed a bond with his baby brother, because both of them played the same position. [36:05] So he was really understanding the business side of the sport, which is football, and understanding that it's not just a game you're playing. [36:15] So the stuff that I was telling him, it was kind of starting to sink into him, and he was, you know, really getting more in depth into it. [36:25] And I could see as he did that, his baby brother really started getting more into it as well as far as being more focused. [36:32] Because he saw, well, if my big brother is about to go do this great thing, then I want to do this great thing, but I want to do it better. [36:39] That's why, that's what made them so like, like vinegar or they just, they, it was like, they was always at each other, but they were the same. [36:49] When I look at my youngest, I say Nolan, or when I look at Nolan, I don't say my youngest name. [36:57] So they were training together, I would always say, hey, you did some push-ups, and you didn't want to run some routes. [37:07] And they know when I say it, the next day, they're out there running routes. [37:11] Even my other say, he'll go out there, he doesn't play that position, but he would go out there and exercise and work out, [37:17] because they were understanding what I was talking about, they were going, they were becoming men. [37:21] So this was his, this was his time. He would always talk to me, I would always give him my advice about stuff. [37:29] I always try to tell him what to look for. And I was always telling him, I said, son, I'm giving you this advice, [37:35] and I'm telling you this stuff, but you're going to have to experience this, but when you experience it, it won't be foreign to you. [37:42] You'll have some kind of idea of how to navigate through it. And I think me and his mother, I think we did a great job with that. [37:49] That's why it's so hard for me to believe that he would choose to stay on the island. It just wasn't in his character. [37:56] So Nolan is the funniest kid in our family. [38:06] Speaking of the time she was talking about, we were having a kind of heated moment, and I don't know if you guys remember, [38:15] the little dance called Stankin' It. I think my son created it, because we were sitting in that closet, looking, and just like talking. [38:27] He literally came to the closet door, like, and peeked around, and stood in front of him, and just started doing this little crazy dance. [38:36] And I was like, we just bust out, like, whatever we was talking about, we stopped laughing, and then we called him to us, and we just hugged and laughed and played. [38:43] But then, maybe, what, six months later, the song didn't hit. But we always said he'd create the Stankin' Let It Dance. [38:52] But that's my greatest memory of my son. [38:54] What are you telling your father children about? [38:56] My son, Ethan, he's hurting. These are the ones that, these are the young ones. He's like, Dad, I don't know what I'm gonna do. [39:13] And I'm like, so you gotta keep going, because he would want you to be better. [39:18] His youngest brother, Elmore, the one that really worked out with him, he was like, I'm hurting, Dad. [39:24] But I said, Nolan wants you to be the best he can be. He would want you to outdo him. [39:30] And whenever you feel like you're in a bind or having some kind of problem, call on your brother, talk to your brother. [39:40] My twins, the loss of a younger sibling is hurting them. They have to figure out how to navigate through life without him. [39:52] And my daughter, Carly, with her being away, it's really hard for her, because she's not around family now. [39:58] So she's out on her own doing life like this, but she's doing it on her own, so she has to do this by herself. [40:08] We're here by phone, but we're not there in person, so she really has to draw on the people that surround her when she's not home. [40:18] So all together, my family, this is going to be our new normal. He was the jester in my court. [40:26] And yeah, he really is great, not by us, but by the whole community. [40:36] We will announce the funeral services when it is finalized, and we'll be going to help with our officiator at the funeral in Mississippi. [40:50] Again, we'll take your questions, but identify who you are. [40:55] And please be respectful to families in mourning, but because they want justice for their son, they came to New York to make this appeal. [41:04] But let's not make this a circus. Yes? [41:09] In the New York Post, first of all, I just want to say, I have a couple of questions. [41:18] When was the last time you prepared for Nolan? What did he say? Was there a call or a text? What was said during that last interaction? [41:31] And also, how do you know that it's Nolan saying, like, give me my phone? What are you doing in that video? [41:41] Say that last question? [41:43] How do you know that it's Nolan saying, give me my phone? What are you doing in that video? [41:48] Yeah. Right. [41:51] I, I, I, yeah, go ahead. [41:53] The second one is other children who are saying it was Nolan. Go ahead. [41:59] So, the last time we spoke and saw Nolan was July the 3rd. [42:06] He actually cooked dinner for me. [42:11] Um, actually for us because I had gotten off work and it had been, it's been really busy. [42:17] And so, he cooked dinner. It was salmon. He baked it. So proud. [42:22] Um, and then after that, he was just like, hey mom, I'm about to go. I love you. [42:27] He gave us a hug, kiss, and, and he left. [42:30] Um, which of course, you know, he knew we always looked at the, like, 360. [42:34] So, there were times maybe he didn't call us to let us know when he made it, but we would see it. [42:40] He would text at some point, but that was the last time we saw him and spoke with him. [42:46] Uh, Dr. Roger Mitchell, uh, is doing an independent autopsy on behalf of, uh, Nolan Wells' family. [43:10] And we understand that, uh, uh, young men have lawyers, so we would have to have their lawyers, uh, agree to let them speak to our investigators. [43:32] And we have not attempted to talk to them as of yet. We have been attempting to talk to many of the students, uh, and people who are out there that we are aware of. [43:44] Okay. Right here. [43:48] Uh, uh, Justin Finch, Inside Edition, asking a question here. [43:57] First for the family, wondering if you recall from your friend, what was said to her by the people who gave her Nolan's phone? [44:06] And for Attorney Crump, wondering for you, at some point, will that phone be given to police for their investigation and expressed interest? [44:14] Yes. [44:15] So, the exact wording of the exchange, it was through phone, because again, we were busy trying to figure out who was going to take the missing person's report. [44:28] Um, just because when it's in water, uh, when it occurs on the island, it's not necessarily the city, um, or the county, because then it becomes an issue of jurisdiction. [44:39] Um, so, like I said, she went there and spoke with, I cannot remember, I'm so sorry, my brain is everywhere. [44:47] Um, but she went to the house and retrieved the phone. [44:53] She said, I have his phone, the phone is okay. [44:56] As far as, like, appearance goes, it didn't look damaged or anything. [44:59] Um, and so then, after that, we met with her at the other house where he had stayed the night, July the 3rd, where his car was. [45:08] Um, because it was important for us to try to retrieve everything of his that we could. [45:13] Um, but it, honestly, for both instances, it was a run and round, because I know she had issues getting his phone as well. [45:22] Um, and she ended up calling me, and I think I spoke with the mother. [45:26] She put me on the speaker phone, and I was like, hey, you know, yes, I'm Christine. [45:30] I'm Nolan's mom. [45:31] We need his phone. [45:32] We're trying to find him. [45:34] Yeah. [45:36] I guess. [45:37] Okay. [45:38] We'll go with her and you. [45:40] Yes. [45:41] I guess I'll, let me answer the same part of the question. [45:43] Absolutely. [45:44] After our experts, uh, being able to examine the phone, we will let the Mississippi investigators examine the phone. [45:54] And it's fortuitous that they have the phone, because normally in these investigations, as you know, they will have the phone and stuff, and they will keep it for months. [46:03] And the family just be in limbo. [46:05] But thank God we have the phone now. [46:07] We're going to do it expeditiously and give it to them to examine it as well. [46:12] Anna Schechter with CBS News. [46:16] So you said that he stayed the night at a friend's. [46:19] The first question is, did he stay with the friends that he went on the boat with? [46:24] Yes. [46:25] Yes, he did. [46:26] Okay. [46:27] And my second question is, has anyone come forward and provided you with other photographs or videos from Horn Island from July 4th that afternoon? [46:40] Uh, they're starting to send them to our office, and that's what Attorney Park was being so adamant about. [46:47] Please continue to send whatever videos you got, uh, whatever pictures you got. [46:53] And we're very thankful that some young people have done that. [46:57] Good afternoon. [46:58] Darla Miles, ABC 7 New York. [47:00] First of all, I would like to extend my condolences to you, Mr. Moose as well, as I know. [47:05] This is, like, very brave of you, and we appreciate your transparency. [47:08] Uh, two questions, um, also in regards to you, Reverend O. Mr. Crump. [47:13] Um, my first question is, this happened in Mississippi, and you've traveled here to meet with Reverend O. Sharpton. [47:19] Why was this important to you, and how meaningful has this meeting been with you here in New York? [47:29] So, we did this because, once again, what we're wanting is transparency, right? [47:38] Um, although I do absolutely respect law enforcement, just the fact that the, you know, accidental drowning thing, it made both me and his father uncomfortable. [47:52] Why are we so quick to rush to this? [47:56] Um, and we just, at the end of the day, we want answers. [47:59] This has been very impactful, and I'm gonna be honest with you, Dee. [48:03] The, the day they found him, um, we were at Port Mars, um, which is one of the boat launches, and I was standing beside the water, and I had said a prayer, and I was like, [48:22] Lord, this isn't what we wanted, but I just asked him to help us get through this, put the right people in our path that could potentially help us, [48:36] because at that point we hadn't reached out to anybody. [48:40] We didn't know where to start. [48:42] This is foreign. [48:43] We, we've never been through this. [48:45] No parent should go through this. [48:47] And then that's when my cousin, um, Keezy, she sent me a message with some information. [48:54] My friend, um, Bianca, her sister, um, knows a contact with Attorney Ben, and so I said, okay, this, this has to be it. [49:06] You know, like, this has to be God helping us along the way. [49:10] And I am not religious, but I am spiritual. [49:13] And for that, I was grateful, because I felt like things were being set up. [49:19] And at this point, I have always said, we are taking any help. [49:23] Any help. [49:24] We don't care black, white, purple. [49:25] Like, again, we just want to know what happened. [49:28] That's all we want to know. [49:29] We just want to know what happened. [49:31] And my quick follow-up to that, um, can you, it's, were you able to get a clear explanation as to, uh, the chain of custody of this phone? [49:39] Like, how that parent came in possession of this phone? [49:41] No. [49:42] And then, explain the resistance, you, you know, you said you went to the home to get the keys. [49:47] I don't understand, like, what kind of resistance, what were the, what was that exchange of words like? [49:52] Uh, the resistance that you received when you went to go retrieve his keys? [49:55] Thank you. [49:56] Um, he just, like, he didn't know where they were. [50:00] He just, like, um, he was like, he was clueless. [50:03] Like, I don't use, like, I don't know, I don't, like, just please, I was like, just please one woman look for me. [50:10] Because, to be honest with you, at that time, I was, I was very emotional. [50:14] No one was giving me any answers. [50:17] So, that situation with me and them could have went totally left field. [50:23] But, since those other young kids were in there, they, at that moment, they kept me from doing what I wanted to do. [50:31] So, getting them and calming them down, that put, it helped me focus on what I was really looking for, to find the keys. [50:40] And, like I said, when I asked him, he said he wouldn't look. [50:44] And so, when he said he couldn't find them, I did what I needed, I left her out of their home. [50:50] And, like I said, five minutes later, he come back out with the keys. [50:54] And, they didn't come back outside anymore until the, um, police came. [51:00] Because, at that time, police were called, um, because we were looking for his wallet. [51:06] And, then they went to the door. [51:07] But, other than that, when they sent the keys out, they locked, they locked everything. [51:12] They didn't want nothing to do with what was outside that door. [51:17] So, that's, that, right there, it's, when he lied to me, it, it, it, it, it, it killed all trust anything we had. [51:26] Just a second. [51:27] All right. [51:28] We'll take the last four. [51:29] One, two, three, four. [51:30] Go ahead. [51:31] Maria Campanotti with CNN. [51:39] Two questions for Attorney Crump, just to get some clarification on the timeline of the events. [51:44] When was Nolan last seen, and by whom? [51:46] And, the second question is, who first reported Nolan missing, and when? [51:50] Well, and I asked his, um, mother to also assist on the second question. [51:55] But, as, it's conflicts. [51:58] It's conflicts. [51:59] You know, the young woman say that he went and got back on the boat with the boys. [52:06] The boys say no. [52:08] He said he was gonna stay with her. [52:11] And, that's a conflict. [52:13] And, the troubling thing is, if they're saying, well, he made the decision to stay behind, would an 18 year old college student say, go ahead without me. [52:30] I don't want my cell phone or anything. [52:32] It, it, it just doesn't add up. [52:34] And so, that, around that three o'clock time, seems to be the last time that we have those statements. [52:44] However, as, Christine said, they're, they're suggesting that they didn't leave until 4.30 though. [52:51] So, you know, if you said you were leaving at 3, why didn't you leave at 4.30? [52:59] And, where was Nolan for that hour? [53:03] Okay. [53:05] It's real. [53:06] I think she was asking about the cell phone. [53:08] What was that? [53:12] Oh, that's the last scene. [53:14] I thought you said something. [53:15] Oh, it was missing. [53:18] Okay. [53:19] So, his friend contacted me. [53:22] It was around 11.07. [53:24] And then, I called my friend to ask her had she seen him. [53:29] Because that would be the only other place I would think he would go if he were back on land. [53:33] And so, then when she told me no, she was like, don't worry. [53:37] I'm going to look for him. [53:38] And, that's when we got on the phone. [53:41] And, first I called, it was either the county or Ocean Springs. [53:49] It was either one of them. [53:50] But, whichever I called first, I was directed to call DMR. [53:54] Because they, so DMR, if I'm not mistaken, they are, they handle cases with the island or the water in that area. [54:02] So, the young lady took the information down. [54:05] She's like, I'm going to give you a call back. [54:07] I said, okay. [54:08] So, when she called me back, she explained to me. [54:12] She was like, you know, I've spoken with the Coast Guard. [54:14] Which, his friend had contacted the Coast Guard. [54:17] Warren had contacted the Coast Guard to report no one missing as well. [54:21] So, I'm on the phone with the DMR. [54:24] He's calling Coast Guard. [54:26] And, she said, I spoke with the Coast Guard. [54:28] And, you know, you're going to have to complete the report with, I think it was Ocean Springs. [54:35] So, we go down to the Ocean Springs Police Department. [54:38] We're told, because it's a jurisdiction issue, that they can't file the missing police report. [54:44] Jackson County ends up, the Sheriff's Department ends up calling me back. [54:50] I think if I remember this correctly. [54:53] And, she was calling to check to see were they able to do it. [54:56] I told her no, they couldn't do it. [54:59] The young lady on the phone and the officer at Ocean Springs Police Department spoke. [55:04] He explained to her why Ocean Springs Police Department could not complete the missing persons report. [55:11] She said, okay. [55:12] He gives the phone back. [55:13] She's like, look, I'm just going to go ahead and do it so there's no more back and forth. [55:17] So, my husband and I, we met an officer. [55:20] In the McDonald's parking lot. [55:22] I think at this point, it's maybe around 12. [55:25] Don't quote me on that. [55:27] But, we explained to him, you know, what he looked like, age, all those things. [55:32] Last time he was reported seen, which again, by his friend, he said that the last time he physically saw him was at 3 p.m. [55:41] And, they were getting ready to leave the island. [55:44] Isra Rodriguez with the U.S. Sun. [55:48] Have you been able to gather additional information made by Warren's mother, actually on social media, where she said the group left the island after they experienced trouble with the boat and that the boat began taking in water? [56:02] Your question is, what director? [56:05] We know she made that statement. [56:06] Have you been able to gather additional information on that? [56:09] No. [56:10] We have not. [56:11] Kevin Ortega Rojas with Here's Why News. [56:15] I was hoping that the family could clarify Nolan's relationship with the young men that he traveled to the island with. [56:21] We've heard different accounts of how long he's known them. [56:25] And, I was wondering also if you folks have spoken to those families since they lawyered up. [56:31] Our school friends. [56:33] Say that. [56:36] Say the second part again. [56:39] Last question. [56:43] Thank you so much, Brad. [56:45] I'm going to speak to the family. [56:48] I stand here as a cousin, a first cousin of a victim in 2020. [56:55] He went out with his friend and his mother, who was white, and he went missing. [57:02] He was found dead, deceased, in a field behind her house. [57:08] She was arrested. [57:10] She was charged with failing to report a missing child and contributing to the delinquent of a juvenile. [57:20] So, your story is very familiar. [57:24] Your pain, I feel it. [57:26] And I will continue to advocate. [57:29] I'm an activist, and I go all across the world. [57:33] But today, I'm here because I stand with you. [57:37] As a cousin of a victim, I know what you feel. [57:41] When you don't get justice, and the system is up against you. [57:47] God bless you. [57:49] Thank you. [57:50] We will follow up when we're ready to form the announcements. [57:53] Again, the funeral service is not to prompt religion. [57:58] It's to seek justice and unity. [58:01] And we want everybody, black, white, everybody, to come and extol what this young man represented. [58:07] It's not a protest rally. [58:09] It will be to really lift up the spirit of this young man and to stand with the family. [58:14] If we have to do protest rallies, that will be announced at another time. [58:18] The funeral services is to talk about how Nolan was a great young man to his family. [58:24] And we're there to comfort them. [58:26] Thank you for your time. [58:27] Let us. [58:28] So, I know I have been seeing some younger people, real adults, and older people doing protests. [58:38] We actually had a very small one in Ocean Springs. [58:43] Some young boys that knew Nolan. [58:45] Actually, some of his friends. [58:47] So, what Elmore and I would like to say is, if you do, please be peaceful. [58:55] Nolan was not someone who liked fights, physical fights. [59:02] He really didn't even like arguments. [59:04] So, don't go out there trying to be tough. [59:08] Just think about what Nolan would want. [59:13] And I'm telling you, he would not want that type of behavior. [59:17] So, let's just make sure that we keep it peaceful and respectful to one another's and others. [59:23] And just stay away from negativity, but also to all of those who have sent beautiful messages. [59:30] We have not gone through all of them, but I want you to know that we appreciate you, your love, your support, standing with us. [59:39] And just keep us in your prayers. [59:42] Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.