The Jackson County district attorney has issued a statement following criticism from the family of Nolan Wells’ legal team over how she is handling the investigation into the Ocean Springs teenager’s death.
Angel Myers McIlrath, nearly one month after releasing a video statement on July 23, released a written statement Tuesday afternoon. In it, she again urged patience among the public and stressed that the law does not afford her the ability to comment on the intricacies of an active death investigation.
She said that she has no control over information, whether accurate or not, that other parties share. The statement comes after attorneys representing the Wells family alleged the DA had not stayed true to an agreement on how Wells’ phone would be examined.
Wells’ body was found on Horn Island on July 6, two days after he visited the Mississippi barrier island with friends to celebrate the Fourth of July. The 18-year-old was a graduate of Ocean Springs High School and was a football player at Southwest Mississippi Community College.
Full statement from the DA
McIlrath’s latest statement, in full, is as follows:
“As District Attorney, I do not have the same freedom to share information publicly that private individuals may have. For example, I do not have the freedom to release letters I’ve sent in this investigation, discuss witness cooperation, or the testing of evidence. I do not have the freedom to identify what information is verified and what information is false. I do not have the freedom to publicly adopt a narrative and choose one fact over another.
“Nor do I control the information released by private individuals who are not part of the investigative team. I cannot control whether private individuals release letters they have sent to me, just as I cannot prevent them from releasing letters I’ve sent to them. I cannot control which facts or bits of information are shared or whether that information is being shared in context, twisted, or misconstrued.
“Public commentary does not make the speaker transparent, just like exercising restraint consistent with the law does not make the process corrupt. The fact that something is said does not necessarily mean it’s actually true.
“Prosecutors are held to the highest ethical standard under the law, as we should be. The people we serve deserve no less. I understand that a void is perceived when some are speaking publicly about a matter while others do not. I would be stepping outside the bounds of the law if I were to fill that void and share information publicly. With all of the public ‘pressure’ being placed on my office, filling the void would only serve to get ‘pressure’ off of me. Nolan deserves better. There is no pressure that can be placed on me and no force that is greater than the weight of the oath I took and my responsibility to the people I serve.
“My obligation and commitment is to present the Grand Jury with all the evidence collected in this case in order for them to reach a decision based on a thorough investigation, complete evidence presentation, the actual truth, and an understanding of the law. I am obligated to do so in keeping with the law and the rules of the court.
“On July 23, 2026, I released a recorded statement explaining the process and what the people of Jackson County should expect in this matter. There is nothing more to be shared at this time. I caution the public about assigning trustworthiness to things they read and see online. I also ask that, rather than those individuals demanding that I step outside the bounds of the law and make public statements, we all step back, allow the process to work, and allow us to do the job we were elected to do.
“I stand firmly on the rule of law and my ethical obligations. That is what the people of Jackson County elected me to do. I will present the Grand Jury with a thorough, complete, and fair investigation into the death of Nolan Wells.”
The phone in question
On the night of July 4, after the boat Nolan Wells traveled to Horn Island on returned to the mainland without him, Wells’ cellphone was tracked by his mother, Christine Wonsley. Wonsley said during a July 10 appearance on “Good Morning America” that she used the Life360 app to locate the phone, which was recovered from the home of one of Wells’ friends. She also raised questions about whether some messages and other content had been deleted from the phone.
The phone was subsequently turned over to the family’s legal team and remained in the possession of the family’s independent investigators.
Several of the friends Wells traveled to Horn Island with have publicly said Wells decided to stay behind and told them he would catch a ride on another boat to the mainland later. Hundreds of people were celebrating the Fourth of July on the barrier island at the time. Distress call audio later released by the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources showed the group’s original boat had begun taking on water before making it safely back to the mainland.
On July 15, nine days after Wells’ body was found, Wells’ parents, their lead attorney Ben Crump, and McIlrath met. According to the family’s legal team, they agreed on a plan to jointly examine the phone’s data using the Digital Forensics Lab at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College and that the FBI may be involved in the process.
On Aug. 14, the legal team issued a press release saying the DA’s office sent a letter on Aug. 12 directing the family to deliver the phone by 9 a.m. on Aug. 14. At the time, Wells’ parents were out of the state and were unable to return before the deadline, their representation said.
“Setting a 48-hour deadline while this family was out of the state is not a good-faith path to answers, and it weakens our confidence in the process,” the legal team said in a statement. “Nolan’s parents will not be pulled into a fight over deadlines and logistics. Even in their grief and heartbreak, they are still trying to work with the DA, but they want to be able to trust that this is a fair and impartial investigation and the agreements made will be honored.”
On Monday, the legal team issued another press release saying it had asked the DA’s office to select any time between Tuesday, Aug. 18 and Friday, Aug. 21, to examine the contents of phone. The attorneys also asked the DA to clarify whether the forensic examination will still take place at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College.
“We are eager to comply with the agreement we entered July 15, which is a joint forensic examination of Nolan’s phone conducted together, with their experts, our experts, and possibly the FBI,” the legal team said in a statement. “Our experts are on standby. The family is ready. We have given the District Attorney’s office four days to choose from this week, and we will make ourselves available on 12 hours’ notice for any one of them.
“The family wants Nolan’s phone to be examined right away, with both parties in the room. All parties agreed on July 15 that we share the same goal, which is determining the circumstances surrounding Nolan’s death. The family is ready to move forward on that goal this week.”
As of Tuesday night, it remained unclear whether McIlrath had reached out to the Wells’ attorneys and selected a date for the phone to be examined.
McIlrath said in her July 23 statement that once every component of the investigation is complete, all evidence will be presented to a grand jury. She said that is protocol for every death investigated in the counties she serves, apart from those resulting from natural causes or noncriminal car wrecks.
Both the state and Wells’ family commissioned autopsies. The independent autopsy found an “undetermined” cause and manner of death, while the state’s autopsy report will be withheld until it can be reviewed by a grand jury.
Nolan Wells would have been 19 on Aug. 19
Wells, who is remembered by the community as a beloved student-athlete, would have turned 19 years old on Wednesday.
The National Action Network has planned a national day of prayer for Wednesday in Wells’ memory. It will include a virtual prayer vigil at 11 a.m. led by Rev. Al Sharpton. A separate prayer rally will be held Wednesday night at Greater St. John AME Church in Biloxi with Wells’ family expected to be in attendance.