A Mississippi judge and mother of one of the friends who accompanied 18-year-old Ocean Springs student-athlete Nolan Xavier Wells on a Fourth of July trip to Horn Island is looking to clear the air and “dispel some rumors” that she said have been making the rounds on social media regarding Wells’ mysterious death, and any possible involvement her family may have had in it.
Ashlee Cole, a Chancery Judge for District 16-2 in Mississippi, wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday that her son, Warren, “loved Nolan dearly,” and that her family, “along with the community, grieves the loss of Nolan Wells.”
Cole began her message to the community by explaining why she had previously deactivated her Facebook account, as people were seeking transparency about why her son and the rest of the group returned home from the Fourth of July trip, while Wells did not.
“Yes, I deactivated my Facebook,” she wrote. “Given the very heightened emotional state of social media right now, I fear for the safety of my child and my children. My husband and I have six children and we covet their privacy. We do not believe it is appropriate for our minor children’s photographs to be circulated throughout the Internet, presenting potential threats to their safety.”
She also spoke about her history with Wells’ mother, Christine Wonsley, whom she said she went to high school with.
“I graduated high school with Christine Wells-Wonsley. We are from the same community. I have the utmost respect for her and all of the Wells family. We mourn the loss of Nolan with them. Our prayers have been and will continue to be with them,” she wrote.
From there, Cole explained that she and her husband “were not at Horn Island at any point on the 4th of July,” and she addressed her role as a judge, hoping to dispel rumors that she might be using her position to obstruct the investigation into her son.
“No one in our family is trying in any way to impede with the investigation by law enforcement or to otherwise hamper the family and law enforcement’s quest for answers,” she maintained. “Warren was interviewed by the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department and cooperated fully. He saw Nolan last at around 3 pm on July 4th. They left around 4:30 pm when the boat was taking on water and they had an issue with the bilge pump. Nolan made a decision to stay on the island and return inland later with another group of friends. Yes, I am a judge. I also value transparency. I apologize if anyone was offended that I deleted my social media. There were no nefarious motivations in my deleting my social media. Social media has a lot of positives, but a whole lot of negatives.”
So far, news of Wells’ tragic death has left the public with far more questions than answers, starting with what the circumstances were under which his friends, who are all notably white, left the island without him, and why he did not return on the same boat as the rest of the group. The elephant in the room, of course, is that Wells was the only Black person among a group of white friends, which is a story we’ve seen before.
This is why calls for justice and a thorough investigation in Wells’ case have grown so intensely, with well-known activists and public figures like famed civil attorney Ben Crump calling for “urgency and transparency.”
For now, the question still remains: What happened to Nolan Xavier Wells? And if his friends aren’t responsible, then who is?
SEE ALSO:
Nolan Wells: Family Confirms Identity Of Body Found As Nolan
What Happened To Nolan Wells?: 5 Questions We Still Need Answered About His Death
