Photo: OCTAVIO JONES / AFP / Getty Images
Nolan Wells’ family, members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) and civil rights leaders are calling on the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to conduct an independent federal review of the 18-year-old’s disappearance and death.
The call came Thursday (August 13) during a news conference at the National Association of Black Journalists Convention featuring Wells’ parents, Rep. Lucy McBath (D-GA), civil rights attorney Ben Crump and Rev. Al Sharpton.
In a letter to Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel, CBC Chair Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY) and other caucus members asked the Justice Department to determine whether a separate federal investigation, including a possible civil rights investigation, is warranted.
The lawmakers gave the department seven days to explain what action it has taken or intends to take.
In a statement to ABC News on Thursday (August 13), the Justice Department confirmed it received the CBC’s letter and “is ensuring the appropriate personnel within the Department are reviewing it carefully.”The FBI is already assisting local investigators, according to ABC News.
McBath said during the news conference that the group was “demanding a full federal investigation” into what happened to Wells. She also connected the case to her own experience after her 17-year-old son, Jordan Davis, was killed in 2012.
Wells disappeared during a July 4 trip to Horn Island and was found dead in the water two days later.
Wells’ official autopsy results have not been publicly released, while an independent autopsy commissioned by his family listed his cause and manner of death as undetermined.
Wells’ mother, Christine Wonsley, noted that her son would have turned 19 on August 19.
“Our lives have forever changed,” Wonsley said during the news conference. “This new normal is something I would never wish on anyone, not even my worst enemy.”
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