The funeral service for Nolan Wells, the 18-year-old found dead on Horn Island earlier this month, will now be open to the public after originally being reserved for family, friends, classmates, and teammates.
Ahead of Monday’s service, Wells’ mother, Christine Wonsley, posted on social media Sunday to clarify who is invited to honor her son’s life.
“The funeral will have a PRIVATE SECTION set aside for family, friends, and Nolan’s classmates, high school and college faculty and staff,” Wonsley wrote on Facebook. “The community is still welcome to attend to honor and remember Nolan. I’m sorry for any confusion! There was a communication gap amongst us planners.”
Wells will be laid to rest Monday at Center Point Church in Ocean Springs. Visitation will be from 9 to 11 a.m., with the service immediately following. Rev. Al Sharpton will officiate, while filmmaker Tyler Perry is covering all funeral expenses.
After the funeral, an invite-only repast will take place at the Jackson County Fairgrounds.
During a press conference last week, Wonsley announced plans for her son’s funeral. She also used the opportunity to ask that any potential protests – as questions remain about the cause of her son’s death – stay peaceful.
“If you are having protests, even the day of his service, I am asking you guys to just keep it peaceful,” she said. “Nolan would never want any type of violence or anything like that. He was not that kind of person.”
Wells, a student-athlete at Southwest Mississippi Community College after graduating from Ocean Springs High School, traveled to Horn Island with friends on July 4 and was reported missing after he was said to have not made it back to the mainland.
On the morning of July 6, his body was found by a park ranger following a multiagency search of the barrier island.
The Jackson County Sheriff’s Department, which is leading the investigation, continues to seek information that could help advance the case. While law enforcement has said drowning is a possible cause of death and that no foul play is suspected at this time, neither has been confirmed.
Wells’ family retained famed civil rights attorney Ben Crump shortly after his death to ensure what Crump described as a “thorough and transparent investigation” amid public debate over how the teen died. While Mississippi Department of Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell said July 8 there is “no indication” race played a role in Wells’ death, Crump and others have questioned whether it could have been a factor.
Wells, who was Black, was pictured on a boat with three white friends hours before he was reported missing.
Results from both the state-ordered and independent autopsies remain pending.