Three people have been charged with threatening witnesses, officials and a judge connected to the case of Nolan Wells, a Black teenager found dead on a Mississippi island after celebrating the Fourth of July with friends.
The defendants from Illinois, Ohio and California do not appear to have a connection to Wells, his family or the case, the Associated Press reported. The people made the threats by phone, in text messages and on social media, court records state.
One threatened to mail a bomb to a judge’s office, according to court documents. Another allegedly said they would bomb a sheriff’s office. The third threatened to kill two witnesses in the case, an affidavit states.
Wells’s death has drawn wide attention after his parents and their attorney questioned whether Mississippi officials adequately scrutinized the circumstances behind the teen’s death. Investigators have not yet determined how Wells died and initially said no foul play was involved.
Wells, who was Black, is presumed to have drowned near an island in the Gulf of Mexico after he took a boat trip to the area with several White friends. Ben Crump, the family’s attorney, said last month that Wells’s parents “distrust” Mississippi law enforcement’s handling of the case because of the state’s complex racial history.
An affidavit filed in federal court in Mississippi said Edward James Porter of Illinois called two witnesses on July 31 and threatened to kill them. In one call, he allegedly threatened to kill the witness and the witness’s family. He said he had the witness’s address and texted it to them, according to the affidavit.
The previous week, Michelle Francine Edwards of Ohio called the George County Cancery Clerk’s Office 21 times and the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office eight times, threatening to bomb them, according to an affidavit.
“Y’all got a bomb outside, don’t come outside,” Edwards allegedly said, adding an expletive, on recorded phone logs.
A third affidavit said Joseph Alfredo Vasquez Dumarce of California sent a Facebook message to a Jackson County judge on July 11, threatening to mail a bomb to the judge’s office. The affidavit indicated the judge is the mother of one of Wells’s friends.
The judge threatened is Ashlee Cole, according to a Facebook post she shared about threats made to her and her family.
Porter, Edwards and Dumarce could not immediately be reached for comment. It was not immediately clear whether Edwards and Dumarce have attorneys. The lawyer assigned to Porter did not respond to a request for comment.
The FBI’s office in Jackson, Mississippi, and the FBI headquarters also did not respond to requests for comment.
Wells’s mother reported her son missing when he didn’t return with his friends from Horn Island, where they were celebrating the Fourth of July holiday. That set off a search that ended July 6, when Wells’s body was found.
Wells’s friends told investigators that they left the island because the boat had mechanical problems and that Wells had chosen to stay behind with a girl he had met. But the girl told investigators that Wells had planned to return to the mainland with his friends.
An independent autopsy commissioned by Wells’s family found that the teen’s cause of death was “undetermined” but did not rule out foul play. Christine Wonsley, Wells’s mother, said at the time that she was concerned investigators initially said they didn’t suspect foul play.
Authorities said their investigation remains active.
Investigators have not named any suspects in connection with Wells’s death. His friends have cooperated with authorities, according to Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter.
An official autopsy has been completed, officials said, but the results are being withheld pending a grand jury review.
Tim Craig contributed to this report.