Students across dozens of historically Black colleges and universities in the South staged walkouts this month demanding that the investigation into the death of Nolan Wells be reopened.
Wells, an 18-year-old Black student at Southwest Mississippi Community College, went on a July 4th boating trip to Horn Island, off the Mississippi Gulf Coast, with several friends. He never returned. His friends came back to the mainland with his cell phone but without him; his body was found in the water near the island two days later, on July 6.
In September, a grand jury declined to bring criminal charges, describing the circumstances of his death as "consistent with drowning." But the state medical examiner had declared the cause of death "undetermined," and the autopsy reports — publicly released after the grand jury decision — revealed two contusions on the back of Wells' head, no fluid or debris in his airways, and an empty stomach. The family's attorney, civil rights lawyer Ben Crump, has described the injuries as blunt-force trauma and said nobody has explained how they got there.
On October 15, a 292-page report of cell phone messages between Wells' friends was released, fueling further suspicion. In the messages, friends discussed the investigation while a separate group chat of Wells' Black friends expressed suspicion toward the group that returned from Horn Island without him.
Following the grand jury decision, spontaneous student walkouts broke out at HBCUs across the South: at Atlanta University Center on October 1, North Carolina Central on October 6, and Prairie View A&M on October 7. Students at Jackson State University then called a Southern Day of Action on October 15, demanding the investigation be reopened immediately. According to organizers, about a dozen schools across five states answered the call.
"There has never been a moment in the history of the US where Black Americans could rely on the government to get justice for us," said North Carolina-based organizer Prince Williams. Organizers are urging students and communities nationwide to pressure local, state, and federal officials to reopen the case.
The family continues to seek a federal investigation into Nolan's death.
Read the full report: BreakThrough News — Students across the US South demand justice for Nolan Wells (https://breakthroughnews.org/2026/10/19/students-across-the-us-south-demand-justice-for-nolan-wells/)
Support the family: In Loving Memory of Nolan Xavier Wells (https://www.gofundme.com/f/in-loving-memory-of-nolan-xavier-wells)