“Nolan Wells Case EXPLODES: Nursing Board Complaint, Death Threats & $158K Legal Fund EXPOSED”

As investigators piece together what happened in connection with [music] the death of Nolan Wells, you have his friends raising legal defense money, Nolan’s mom reportedly being investigated for professional misconduct, the signs of potential litigation mounting.

What exactly is going on right now?

Investigators are still working to understand exactly what happened to Nolan Wells.

Meanwhile, his friends are raising money for legal defense.

His mother is reportedly facing a professional complaint and the pieces are in place for possible litigation.

So, what is actually going on here?

So, there are some things happening with the Nolan Wells case that we should talk about.

This is the death of the 18-year-old college football player went missing after a July 4th boating trip at the barrier island off of Horn Island in Mississippi.

Reportedly didn’t go back on the boat with his friends, goes missing, and his body is found two days later washed ashore.

The family is demanding a thorough investigation.

They are demanding answers.

They have hired attorney Ben Crump to navigate this situation for them.

They ordered an independent autopsy of Nolan’s body, but the cause and manner of death were undetermined from that examination.

We do know, based on reporting, the official state medical examination has reportedly been completed presumably with the toxicology report, but we don’t know the results yet.

It’s part of a larger case file that will, by all accounts, be sent to a grand jury for potential filing of criminal charges.

The results won’t be released till then and we have no timeline on when this grand jury process will happen.

Now, before I go any further Nolan Wells was an 18-year-old college football player who went missing after a boating trip on July 4th near Horn Island off the coast of Mississippi.

According to reports, he did not return to the boat with his friends.

His body was found two days later washed up on shore.

Since then, his family has pushed for a full investigation and brought in attorney Ben Crump to represent them.

They also commissioned an independent autopsy, though that exam did not determine a cause or manner of death.

Separately, the official state medical examination has reportedly been completed and it’s expected to include toxicology results, but those results have not been made public.

The full case file is expected to go to a grand jury for a decision on potential charges, though there’s no timeline yet for when that process will happen.

Threats allegedly directed at a judge whose son was with Nolan that day, as well as at a witness and local officials.

Are they being silenced?

Are they being intimidated?

What are their legal rights for information?

What are their legal rights against others?

What are their legal rights to speak out, give their take on the evidence, the investigation?

What about those who are claiming they are being victimized?

And it is getting heated.

It’s been reported that right now three people have been criminally charged with making threats in connection with this case.

And these suspects don’t seem to know the family personally or to be involved in any way.

None of the people charged appear to have known the Wells family personally or to have been involved in what happened on the island.

At the same time, a new legal front has opened up.

But these alleged threats against a judge whose son was with Nolan that day, a witness, local officials, this is getting serious.

This is taking on a life of its own.

And now you’re also seeing the prospect of litigation.

You’re seeing a legal defense fund being raised, which we’re going to talk about.

You’re seeing Nolan’s mom reportedly being hit with a professional complaint.

According to reporting from outlets including WLBT, the Mississippi Board of Nursing opened a professional misconduct investigation into Nolan’s mother, Christine Wells-Winsley, based on an anonymous complaint.

There’s a lot I want to talk to you about, but I got to start with this cuz this is like the latest breaking news, big news that came out.

Um according to outlets such as uh, WLBT, the Mississippi Board of Nursing has apparently launched this professional misconduct investigation against Nolan’s mom, Christine Wells Winsley.

And apparently, there was an anonymous >> Crump characterized the complaint as an attempt to intimidate Winsley into backing off her questions about her son’s death, noting that she had no prior complaints on her record.

an anonymous complaint.

Well, Ben Crump, who I’ve mentioned represents the Wells family, said that this was, quote, “a warning sH๏τ to essentially intimidate, uh, Christine Winsley and keep her quiet about looking into what happened with her son.

” Highlights that she has never had a complaint before.

It tells us the question matters and the answer is scaring somebody.

We will keep asking questions and demanding the facts until >> Winsley later posted on social media that the Board of Nursing had closed the case, thanking supporters and saying the situation had added pain to an already difficult >> and the facts until Christine knows how her son died.

I should note that Christine posted on Facebook that the Mississippi Board of Nursing has now closed this professional misconduct case, saying, quote, “Thank you to all of those who have constantly kept us in your prayers.

This definitely has added more hurt to an already devastating time because I love my job and I love my patients.

” Now, Rich, >> Attorney Rich Sheinstein weighed in on the timing of that complaint.

I haven’t watched a lot of what Ben Crump has has said.

I know about it and I know that he’s drawn some criticism for some of his comments.

So, let me start with this premise.

From the point of view of the investigation, it would be preferable to me if the family wasn’t making a lot of public comments.

Because I think talking about evidence publicly can potentially interfere with an investigation.

I Investigators don’t tell you everything they found everything they found.

if Winsley genuinely had no disciplinary history and a complaint appeared right as her son’s death was drawing public attention, the timing alone would be worth scrutinizing.

about this, whether the allegations in that anonymous complaint were true or not.

 

It seems, you know, it being dropped probably weren’t.

 

But the timing of it is suspicious.

 

Does Ben Crump have a point about this about potentially weaponizing different legal systems in this search for the truth?

 

Well, I think you have to say that the timing is at least suspicious.

 

If it’s true that she’s never had a complaint lodged against her throughout her career, and all of the sudden there’s an investigation into the death of her son and there’s public interest and all of the sudden there’s an anonymous complaint out of the blue, you would say at least that that timing is suspicious and that complaint needs to be scrutinized.

 

>> He noted this kind of situation is part of why families in high-profile cases often bring in outside counsel to protect their interests and keep an independent eye on the investigation rather than relying solely on the standard process.

 

He was careful to say this doesn’t mean the investigation itself was mishandled, just that having legal representation in this position is common and reasonable.

 

>> Does it To me, it supports the argument.

 

This is why the family got outside counsel.

 

This is why they’ve moved forward with an independent investigation because the idea would be that they they are vulnerable.

 

They’re vulnerable to I think the argument is is that this could have been all swept up under the rug, that it was going to be a quick investigation, that, you know, what happened to Nolan, tragic accident.

 

But to get a lawyer and to bring a spotlight on this and to protect their rights, I’m still navigating, you know, the role of an attorney like Ben Crump in all this, but I’m also not I can’t deny there is a value to that.

 

>> Both the family and Crump have been vocal publicly and that’s raised its own set of questions.

 

They have pushed back on claims that Nolan chose to remain on the island without his friends, an account that has been amplified by some of the people who were with him that day.

 

They’ve also raised concerns that data from Nolan’s phone may have been altered or deleted.

 

Additionally, the family has questioned the closeness of the relationship between Nolan and Tristen Shepherd, one of the people who has spoken publicly about being a close friend of Nolan’s.

 

>> get them into legal trouble.

 

Has Ben Crump said anything or done anything that could get him into legal trouble?

 

I mean, look, they’ve been vocal.

 

And for example, they have pushed back on accounts that Nolan would have stayed on Horn Island without his friends, which is something that has, you know, been amplified by those who were with Nolan that day.

 

They have made claims that information from Nolan’s phone may have been tampered with, deleted.

 

They have seemingly pushed back on the idea of whether a Tristen Shepherd, who has come out claims he’s a good friend, really good friend of Nolan.

 

He was interviewed by Brandon Tatum, um you know, on Cuomo on News Nation, um Chris had asked Elmore Wansley, uh Nolan’s father, if he knows Tristen and said, “He No, I don’t.

 

Just because you park your vehicle in someone’s yard >> been a dispute over reports citing preliminary information from the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources and reported by ABC News that witnesses told investigators Nolan had been drinking heavily with friends before he went missing.

 

Christine Wansley disputed that characterization in a television interview questioning whether it reflected reality or a narrative being pushed by others.

 

She said one of Nolan’s football coaches told her he’d spoken with Nolan that afternoon and that Nolan seemed clear-headed and was talking about his future.

 

>> doesn’t mean that they have to know you.

 

And then there was this.

 

So, it was reported, we talked about this, that according to preliminary information from a document from the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, witnesses reportedly told investigators that Wells that Nolan had been drinking heavily with friends that day before he went missing.

This was reported by ABC
News.

 

Well, Christine, his mom, goes on the Don Lemon show and denies this.

 

Says, “If you were in our situation, how would you feel if there were millions of people who were saying, ‘Oh, hey, well, he was at an island.

 

He was heavily drunk.'” And I’m like, “But was he though?

 

Or is this a narrative that you guys want to use?”

 

And she even apparently said that one of Nolan’s football coaches told her that he saw Nolan that day between 2:45 p.m.

 

3:30 p.m.

 

Local time.

 

Quote, “He was like, ‘Christine, yeah, we talked for a while.

 

We talked about college.

 

We talked about his life, his plans.'” And he was like, “He was perfectly fine.”

 

Because I think it had bothered him, too, that there was this narrative of “Oh, he was sloppy drunk.

 

” So, what do you Big question >> that, generally speaking, it would be preferable from an investigative standpoint if fewer details were being litigated in public, since investigations typically move step-by-step through witness interviews, forensic review, and coordination with law enforcement, rather than through public updates.

 

At the same time, he acknowledged that families understandably want to correct narratives they believe are false.

 

And that with so many outlets and creators covering the story, some public response from the family is close to unavoidable.

 

Meanwhile, a group identifying itself as representing Nolan’s friends, including Warren Hudson, Jack Petallo, and Morgan Seymour, launched a fundraiser that had collected more than $158,000 at the time of this recording.

 

>> You know, the friends getting criticism.

 

And and there’s something that I I have to call out here that I thought was really interesting.

 

So, apparently Nolan’s purported friends and their families have launched this legal defense fund on GiveSendGo.

 

Currently raised, at the time of this recording, over $158,000.

 

I’m going to read you a portion of what it says.

 

It says, quote, “No friend should have to grieve the loss of a brother.

 

But instead of being allowed to mourn, what followed was an unprecedented online campaign of accusations, harᴀssment, threats, and defamation.

 

Since Nolan’s death, Warren Hudson, Jack Spataro, Morgan Seymour, and many others have been inundated with death threats, threats of violence, and defamation.

 

They have been falsely and wrongly blamed by individuals online and in the media of either directly or indirectly having a hand in Nolan’s death.

 

Most of them could not even attend their own best friend’s funeral.

 

Why?

 

Because race baiters sent a deranged army after them online in the name of justice.

 

Since the beginning of the investigation, these young men have cooperated with authorities, turned over all the information they had, and provided an overwhelming number of witnesses accounting for their whereabouts.

 

Some of them even resorted to speaking up publicly to defend themselves against baseless allegations.

 

But unfortunately, it has become clear that the truth doesn’t matter.

 

Goes on to say, “Lives have been turned upside down and some have had to go into hiding.”

 

Al Sharpton, Ben Crump, and the usual suspects of social media personalities, national news media, and local provocateurs continue to invent and spread false narratives and lies with no accountability.

 

This is the typical tactic of Ben Crump and the like.

 

They come to communities like the Gulf Coast under the guise of seeking justice, but it has become painfully clear that their version of justice is stirring division, ruining lives, and then leaving when the money is dried up.

 

We have seen this same pattern time and time again, most recently during the Carmelo Anthony trial.

 

No matter what anyone believes about an ongoing investigation, our legal system exists for a reason.

 

Evidence belongs in the hands of law enforcement and the courts, and not in online mob campaigns fueled by rumors, edited clips, edited audio, speculation, or misinformation.

 

This must stop.

 

This fund is created for the sole purpose of fighting these individuals.

 

Our goal is simple and twofold.

 

Our first goal is to raise money to defend these friends against incoming wrongful death actions filed by attorney Ben Crump and his team.

 

Our second goal is to fund a robust legal team to sue for the litany of slander and libel being spread by not only Crump, but also many social media influencers, news outlets, and local provocateurs who know better.

 

This is not about silencing legitimate discussion of or respectful disagreement.

 

People are free to ask questions and express opinions.

 

This is about drawing a line against defamation, targeted harᴀssment, threats of violence, doxing, intimidation, and coordinated campaigns that destroy lives before the facts are known.

 

It goes on to say, “Your donation says that enough is enough.

 

Your donation says that the time of exploiting a tragedy under the guise of justice and leaving a community in ruins >> In their public statement, they said they and their families have faced online harᴀssment, threats, and accusations since Nolan’s death to the point that some couldn’t attend his funeral.

 

They stated they have cooperated with investigators throughout and pushed back directly against Crump, characterizing his and others’ public statements as spreading unproven claims.

 

The fund’s stated purpose is twofold, Zinn: to help cover legal costs if the friends are named in a wrongful death suit, and to potentially pursue defamation claims against those they say have spread false information about them.

 

Shenstein noted that crowdfunded legal defense funds are increasingly common in high-profile cases, comparing the scale, though not the substance, to other recent cases where large sums were raised online.

 

He encouraged anyone considering a donation to research where the money is actually going, since donors generally have little oversight over how funds are used once given.

 

>> Well, I have >> a lot of thoughts cuz you covered a lot of ground.

 

You covered a lot of ground there, my friend.

 

But let me start with the fund, okay?

 

Because again, this is something we’re seeing now, you know, Luigi Manjione has raised a million and a half bucks in his legal defense fund, right?

 

>> Very, very different.

 

Very, very different.

 

>> understand, but I’m saying a lot of people, either defendants or victims or others, set up these funds.

 

And one thing I want to encourage people is when they look at a fund like that to try to scrutinize it and make sure you know where your money’s going before you give it because there’s not a lot of control once you give a 100 bucks to some GiveSendGo, you don’t have any control over what that money is really used for.

 

So, you want to really take a look at that fund and make sure that it’s being used for things you want it to be.

 

>> He also said he saw no inherent problem with people in this situation seeking legal representation or crowdfunding for it, and that doing so isn’t itself evidence of wrongdoing.

 

There are also signs the case could move towards civil litigation.

 

Nolan’s mother has reportedly filed legal requests tied to the administration of his estate seeking records from several social media and location tracking platforms.

 

>> Yeah.

 

Well, it is interesting that they say the first purpose is to defend against a wrongful death action almost as if they believe, if the way I’m reading it, that Nolan’s family would sue, right?

 

Because there are kind of hints, right?

Nolan’s mom has appeared to file these subpoenas for records from
Social media companies, TikTok, Snapchat, WhatsApp, Meta, Life360.

 

Um, this is part of the legal case regarding the estate of Nolan Wells.

 

Seeks all this kind of information.

 

It was also reported uh by People magazine that a notice, a preservation notice for evidence was sent by Nolan’s family to the families of Nolan’s friends, these investigative bodies.

 

Um, apparently according to People and ABC News, one was sent to Ashley Cole, uh this judge who I mentioned before whose son was reportedly with Nolan Wells that >> Separately, reports from People magazine and ABC News indicate that evidence preservation notices were sent to families connected to the case, including to Ashley Cole, a judge whose son was reportedly with Nolan that day.

 

Scheinstein said this kind of activity often signals that a family may be preparing to pursue a wrongful death claim, which could aim either to obtain answers the criminal process might not provide, financial recovery, or both.

 

>> it it seems there’s a possibility when you hire Ben Crump and you’re having this information, these these notices, they may be preparing to go the wrongful death route to get the answers that they feel they may not get in the criminal investigation, right?

 

>> get it to get answers, right?

And also
To get financial recovery.

 

I mean, when you know, if you have multiple people out there, it’s not impossible that the families of some of these kids have insurance that would cover that kind of litigation.

 

It’s not impossible that you could cast a wide net wrongful death action with a bunch of defendants and find some that have some financial wherewithal and piece together a recovery.

 

You could probably frame a complaint even if nobody even if nobody killed him or did anything intentionally, you can probably ᴀssert negligence.

 

Why they leave him alone on the island?

 

They should have let shouldn’t have left without him.

 

That was negligent.

 

That helped lead to his death.

 

So, I I an attorney could pursue wrongful death litigation in the hope of either coming up with the real answers of what happened or getting some sort of financial recovery.

 

>> legal question of where public commentary crosses into defamation, Shenstein explained that statements made in official filings, like court documents or complaints to a licensing board, are generally protected by privilege and can’t be the basis for a defamation claim.

 

Public statements are different, he said, stating something as established fact.

 

For example, directly accusing someone of causing a death could expose the speaker to a defamation claim, whereas stating an opinion, such as questioning whether an investigation is thorough enough, is generally protected.

 

He noted that in practice, many statements fall into a gray area between fact and opinion, which is often exactly what court proceedings are meant to sort out.

 

>> And let me just ask you this again.

 

What is the line between asking questions, giving an opinion, free speech versus defamation?

 

>> Well, I’m going to ᴀssume it’s speech publicly.

 

So, for if you if you say something in a court document, it generally is enтιтled to absolute privilege and cannot be a defamation.

 

So, if you file a complaint or by the way, if you file a complaint with the Mississippi Board of Health, that’s probably privileged, too.

 

You’re probably not going to be sued for defamation about that.

 

So, the first question is is where did you make the speech?

 

How did you make the speech?

 

Now, let’s ᴀssume you made it publicly.

 

You made it over the internet or you stood up on a street corner.

 

Then, the question is going to be are you making statements of fact or opinions?

 

If you say, “I know that this individual was responsible for the death.”

 

That is a factual ᴀssertion.

 

That can be defamatory.

 

You’re accusing somebody of a crime.

 

If you say, “My view I In my opinion, this investigation isn’t looking hard enough at the evidence.

 

The investigation ought to consider this, that, and the other thing and really probe.”

 

That is more opinion.

 

You’re not necessarily saying that you know as a factual matter anybody did anything.

 

You’re simply offering opinion and opinions generally are not cannot be defamatory.

 

I mean, that’s a very simplistic view and as you know, cuz you’ve looked at a lot of these cases, a lot of statements are really on that line between are they opinion or factual?

 

>> Yeah.

 

That’s why we have trials for it.

 

>> As an example of how serious these disputes have become, Bart Edmonson Jr., another person connected to Nolan’s circle of friends, retained attorney Russell Latino after facing what his family described as a week of false accusations online, which reportedly led to death threats now under FBI investigation.

 

>> And just to put it in perspective, we’ve talked about this before, but there was a parent friend of Nolan Wells, uh Bart Edmonson Jr., planning on taking legal action because some have speculated online or accused him of being somehow involved or connected to what happened to Nolan.

 

He retained an attorney, Russell Latino, who released a statement to Law & Crime saying after And this was We’ve talked about this before, but after a week of egregiously false and defamatory accusations against Bart Edmonson Jr., accusations which resulted in credible death threats now being investigated by the FBI, the Edmonson family has released a statement addressing their son’s knowledge of and cooperation in the Nolan Wells investigation.

 

And he actually sent us a copy of a cease and desist letter that he apparently sent to an online influencer for allegedly spreading misinformation.

 

So, you know, one of the things I also think as we wrap things up >> Latino also confirmed sending a cease and desist letter to an online commentator over claims of spreading misinformation.

 

Shenstein closed by noting that if the case eventually leads to criminal charges, any witness’s involvement in a separate civil lawsuit could become relevant during cross-examination since it can raise questions about a witness’s motives or credibility.

For that reason, he said, “People who may end up testifying in a criminal case often wait until that process concludes before pursuing civil claims both strategically and because civil litigation against someone facing criminal charges typically can’t move forward until the criminal case is
Resolved.”

 

>> Yeah, so in a lot of cases, you you really want to wait if you can until after the criminal proceedings are over if there are any to bring civil litigation.

 

So, if you’re going to be a witness and you can wait, you have to worry about statute of limitations, which can be kind of quick on things like wrongful death actions, but you may want to hold your powder on your civil case until you’ve done all your testifying in a criminal case precisely to avoid the kind of thing you’re talking about.

And a lot And also
Because you can’t really proceed with civil litigation until the criminal component is done.

 

If you’re suing people who face criminal charges now, >> charges have been filed and the results of the state’s toxicology and medical examination haven’t been released.

What’s clear is that the case has expanded well beyond the original investigation into how Nolan Wells died, now touching professional licensing boards, defamation law, evidence preservation, and the early groundwork for possible civil suits, with all sides
Bracing for what comes next.