Hundreds march from Biloxi to Ocean Springs, calling for justice for Nolan Wells

By Margaret Baker, Sun Herald | Originally published by Mississippi Today

BILOXI — Five hundred or more people gathered on Biloxi’s southeastern waterfront Sunday morning and then marched to Ocean Springs, demanding justice for Nolan Wells.

The Ocean Springs teen went missing during a July 4 trip to Horn Island with a group of friends. The group traveled to the barrier island on three boats, but the friends returned without Wells, saying he stayed behind to talk to a girl.

Two days later, on July 6, authorities found Wells’ body in the water off Horn Island, a barrier island about 10 miles from the mainland.

A Jackson County grand jury later found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing by Wells’ friends, who had traveled to Horn Island that day to celebrate the Fourth of July.

The official cause of his death remains undetermined.

Wells’ parents, Elmore and Christine Wonsley, hired civil rights attorney Ben Crump to do an independent investigation into their son’s death.

They have called on the Department of Justice to do an independent investigation. The protesters came from the Mississippi Coast and beyond, including New Orleans, Atlanta, Chicago and other places.

The event was billed as part of a 50-state march.

“It’s important for us to come out here today because this is a concern for all people, not just Black people,” said Jennifer Matthews, who drove from New Orleans. “This didn’t just happen to Nolan Wells. It’s been going on with three or four other Black kids, and we need to get to the bottom of it.

“Mississippi is a very prejudiced state, and it’s 2026, and I want to be a part of the change that needs to happen,” she said.

Sandra Wyche, of Gulfport, echoed the sentiment.

She said she came to the protest “because we’re tired of our children being murdered and killed, and tired of the people that are over these communities.

“If it was a Caucasian baby that was a part of this, somebody would have been in jail today,” Wyche said of Wells’ death. “And color does matter. Now, as far as me being prejudiced, I’m not. But right is right, and wrong is wrong.”

The speakers at the protest talked about other Black lives cut short, including Kohen Wiley, a 1-year-old shot to death by police in a Walmart parking lot in Senatobia after a report of shoplifting by women who were with Kohen, and Andrew Joseph III, a 14-year-old who was struck and killed on an interstate after being kicked out of the Florida State Fair in 2014.

Tonya Brown, of Biloxi, said she came out like the others who made the nearly four-mile walk to Ocean Springs and back to “support these families that are in dire need of knowing what happened to their babies. We need justice, and the killing needs to stop. We all need to come together as one to support these families.”

Another protester, Carolyn Ruff, of Chicago, is founder of Black Lives Matter Women of Faith and described herself as an activist fighting for justice for Nolan Wells and others.

“We know Nolan Wells did not drown,” Russ said. “We’re here because we know they will find the truth eventually.”

Protestors chanted, “Justice for Nolan Wells,” and “Nolan did not drown,” among other slogans calling for justice for those who died under questionable circumstances.

This article was originally published by Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Source: Original Article