Nolan Wells remembered at memorial as community demands truth about his death

Elmore Wonsley stands flanked by Ben Crump and the Rev Al Sharpton during a memorial service for Nolan Xavier Wells. Photograph: Gerald Herbert/AP View image in fullscreen Elmore Wonsley stands flanked by Ben Crump and the Rev Al Sharpton during a memorial service for Nolan Xavier Wells. Photograph: Gerald Herbert/AP Nolan Wells remembered at memorial as community demands truth about his death The 18-year-old was found dead after a 4 July boat trip with his friends to an island in the Gulf coast Family and supporters of Nolan Xavier Wells gathered in a Mississippi church on Monday to mourn and celebrate the 18-year-old, whose death following a 4 July boat trip with friends has captured national attention and prompted calls for an independent investigation. The ceremony began with tearful remarks from Wells’s parents, who described their son as a warm and gentle presence, a gifted athlete and a role model to his younger siblings. “He had a way of making people feel seen, welcomed and valued,” said Christine Wonsley, the teenager’s mother. “He could lift your confidence with just a few words and make you feel like you belong.” View image in fullscreen People line up for a viewing during a memorial service for Nolan Xavier Wells on Monday. Photograph: Gerald Herbert/AP In a fiery eulogy, the Rev Al Sharpton, a well-known US civil rights leader, then promised a $50,000 reward for any new information about the circumstances around Wells’s death. The teenager, who was Black, traveled with a group of white friends to Horn Island, off the US Gulf coast, but did not return with them. “There’s too many unanswered questions,” Sharpton said. “We can’t have someone in law enforcement saying there was no foul play before there was an investigation.” He then invoked the history of racist violence in Mississippi , including the lynching of Emmett Till and assassination of Medgar Evers. “The reason why a lot of people in the nation are looking at this Nolan situation is that we’ve looked at history in Mississippi,” Sharpton continued, to loud applause in the church. “Some of us remember what happened in Mississippi. “Before we can medicate and heal today, we’ve got to look at your history.” The family’s attorney, Ben Crump, then led the crowd in a chant of “Nolan’s life mattered,” as Wells’s mother sobbed into the shoulder of her husband, Elmore Wonsley. View image in fullscreen Christine Wonsley walks with her husband Elmore and the Rev Al Sharpton during a memorial service for Nolan Xavier Wells. Photograph: Gerald Herbert/AP Wells’s death has captured national attention, galvanizing Black leaders and touching off fraught discussions of racial tension and mistrust of law enforcement in the deep south. Among those in attendance on Monday were Spike Lee, the director, and Terrell Owens, the former football player. Tyler Perry, an actor and producer, helped pay for the funeral. John Ledbetter, a Jackson county sheriff, has said Wells’s friends are cooperating with