Officials from Nolan Wells hometown rally behind sheriff after allegedly failing to properly handle case
MISSISSIPPI – Officials from Nolan Wells’ hometown are rallying behind their sheriff after being accused of being “derelict in their duties” on Wednesday morning.NAACP President Derrick Johnson accused Mississippi officials of failing to properly handle the case during the same news conference where attorney Ben Crump announced the independent autopsy results.“We’re not accusing anyone of anything other than the state of Mississippi and local officials.We’re accusing them of being derelict in their duties,” Johnson said.
“To follow up and to ensure that regardless of what happened, that there was the proper investigation so that this family and that community could be assured that if anyone was involved, they would be held accountable.”Wells, 18, disappeared July 4 after he went with friends on a boat trip to Horn Island, which is a barrier island off Mississippi’s Gulf Coast.Officials and search crews searched for two days before a National Park Service ranger located his remains on July 6 while on the island’s northwestern tip.Mississippi state Sen.
Jeremy England, who represents a portion of Jackson County, where the incident took place, told Fox News Digital the accusation by Johnson was “completely unfair.““Our sheriff and our district attorney here in Jackson County, our DPS commissioner over the state of Mississippi law enforcement, our crime lab, the offices they put together, I know many of them personally and professionally, and they have the utmost integrity and they want to get the facts correct and get out there.You know, they understand they’re under a microscope at this point in time, but they’re being unfairly attacked,” England said.
“For no reason other than people trying to make shocking claims and get people to think something nefarious has happened or is going on.”“But these are very good people, and it’s really disheartening to see their name and their reputation being dragged through the mud...