Mourning Nolan Xavier Wells: Why This Loss Feels So Personal For The Black Community

On Monday, Nolan Xavier Wells was laid to rest at Center Pointe Church in his hometown of Ocean Springs, Mississippi. The handsome teen with a charming smile would have celebrated his 19th birthday on August 19th. He would have likely resumed classes at Southwest Mississippi Community College next month as well. It was there that Wells was majoring in business while playing wide receiver for the school’s football team. His mother fondly recalls his magnetic personality and shares that “he never met a stranger.” She affectionately called him, Nono.

Instead of Wells’ parents planning his golden birthday celebration or helping their deceased son register for his fall classes, they were selecting his casket and organizing a homegoing for their child.  

Prominent civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump is working with Nolan’s parents Christine Wells-Wonsley and Elmore Wonsley Sr. to get answers surrounding his untimely death. Crump is working to find out what really happened on July 4, 2026 on Horn Island where what was supposed to be the destination of a fun day trip with friends turned out to be the last place the Wells was seen alive. Other notable public figures have stepped in to help the family at this devastating time. Longtime activist Rev. Al Sharpton delivered the eulogy at Monday’s service. He also announced a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the death of Wells. Media mogul Tyler Perry soon after matched that amount. NFL Hall of Famer Terrell Owens pledged $25,000 to the cause yesterday.

Most of us cannot spare $50K, $25K or even $5K to help this worthy cause. But that does not mean we haven’t contributed to the cause in our own ways. Even as strangers, we have prayed. Many of us have cried. We have envisioned Nolan on that boat with people he thought were his friends and internally debated how differently things could have transpired that Saturday afternoon. We have thought with compassion about Nolan’s parents, Christine and Elmore, and the pain that they have had to endure. We’ve sincerely kept Nolan’s entire village in mind while trying to make sense of this tragedy—his siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, godparents and cousins.

Because we all know a Nolan. And we know a Christine and an Elmore too. We know a young man who is full of light and promise and talent. We know parents who selflessly pour into their children and try to give them every opportunity possible. Parents who simply want to see their kids healthy, happy and thriving—whatever thriving looks like for them. We know that no stage of parenting is easy, especially not parenting a young adult. We recognize the joy in Christine and Elmore’s faces every time we see a picture of them with their son pop up on our timelines, and the comfort in Nolan’s eyes as he was flanked by his parents, whether in his cap and gown or his football uniform. Those eyes seemed to hold a palpable confidence; one that revealed Nolan knew he was loved and supported by his parents.

Whether we are a parent of one child, or half a dozen children, whether we are Auntie, Uncle, a caring neighbor, a concerned teacher or just someone with a pulse and an ounce of humanity, we’ve all worried about a child’s well-being. And when you factor in being a Black youth and in Mississippi? Well, that’s a deep-seated worry.

To be clear, the tragedy of Nolan Xavier Wells could have occurred anywhere and to anyone. But we’re not going to pretend the location of this death didn’t make us pause.

Mississippi.

The same state where a 14-year-old Emmitt Till was abducted and brutally lynched for allegedly whistling at a White woman who 53 years later admitted that her entire claim back in 1955 was a bold-faced lie. Mississippi has the highest recorded number of lynchings in the United States, with 581 documented deaths between 1882 and 1968. (That number is much higher when one considers how many went undocumented because…Jim Crow.)

Yeah, that Mississippi.

But again, this horrific event and the grim circumstances surrounding it could have happened in New York City, California or Illinois. Which is yet another reason it is so painful.

The family wants answers. And so do we. Somebody knows something. Our collective grief is for Nolan but also for the lack of justice that seems to be, still in 2026, okay when it comes to our youth. And dammit, it hurts. A lot.

It hurts an indescribable hurt to think that the lives our babies are not considered as precious as everyone else’s. Like Christine Wells-Wonsley and Elmore Wonsley Sr. didn’t cheer for Nolan at the top of their lungs at his football games, like they didn’t hang his preschool artwork up on the fridge in their kitchen when he was in preschool, like they weren’t smiling ear to ear when he made the honor roll or aced a test they know he studied hard for. Somehow, Black parents and their villages just aren’t given the same grace, space and dignity when it comes to our young people. This is why we are all mourning Nolan.

Crump will hold a press conference in Chicago at the 117^th NAACP National Convention on Wednesday, July 22, to announce the findings of an independent autopsy conducted in connection with the death of Wells. Family members, legal representatives, and NAACP leadership are expected to be in attendance for the briefing. Hopefully, some answers will be revealed. The pain of knowing a mother and father had to bury their 18-year-old son and those involved, including the local authorities still don’t have any answers will remain.

Through tears, Christine expressed at her son Nolan’s homegoing service:

“Never stop saying his name. As long as we continue to remember him, his light will continue to shine through us all.” 

So despite our collective anger, confusion and grief, we will oblige and offer our support to those who knew and loved this young man. For we know that community is our most powerful tool.

Nolan Xavier Wells. Ashe.