A grand jury concluded that there was insufficient evidence to warrant charges in the death of an 18-year-old Black man whose body was discovered after a July 4 boating trip and party on an island off the Mississippi Gulf Coast — a conclusion his family swiftly questioned.

The decision, announced late Monday by District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath, who has overseen the investigation into Nolan Wells’ death, comes after months of intense speculation about how he went missing from the bustling party and why the friends who ferried Wells to Horn Island left without him.

The grand jury found no evidence of criminal conduct and stated that, based on various factors—including the position and condition of Wells’ body when found—his death was “consistent with drowning.”

It also noted that examinations of his body by the Mississippi medical examiner’s office and an independent forensic pathologist hired by Wells’ family found the cause and manner of death to be undetermined.

“If credible evidence comes to light in the future suggesting that Mr. Wells’ death was not accidental, this matter should be referred to the Jackson County Grand Jury for further consideration,” the grand jury’s report said.

According to the report, as part of its investigation into whether crimes had been committed, the grand jury issued 132 subpoenas and heard from 43 witnesses through direct testimony, sworn statements and recorded interviews.

It weighed evidence, including cellphone data and forensic reports, videos and GPS data.

Lawyers for Wells’ family, including civil rights attorney Ben Crump, said the grand jury’s report yielded more questions than answers, and they accused the district attorney of ending the investigation despite not determining what caused blunt force trauma to the back of Wells’ head and body.

They also renewed their request that the U.S. Department of Justice conduct an independent investigation, and called on McIlrath to release the investigation file and the medical examiner’s full autopsy report.

“Today, the State of Mississippi is trying to close the book on Nolan Wells’ death without uncovering the truth,” Crump said in a statement.

Crump, along with Wells’ family and the NAACP, was anticipated to convene a news conference later on Tuesday.

The case has led to widespread speculation and suspicion as people grapple with Mississippi's history of racial tension and what it means to be a Black person in a majority white setting.

Everyone else in the group that traveled with Wells to the island was white.

During his eulogy at Wells' funeral, the Rev. Al Sharpton invoked the state's racist history, citing the lynching of Emmett Till and the assassination of Medgar Evers.

“Mississippi’s history painfully teaches us exactly why families should never be expected to simply accept unanswered questions surrounding the death of a young Black person,” Sharpton said in a statement Tuesday.

“Transparency and accountability matter. The truth matters. Nolan’s life mattered.”

In a 15-minute video posted on social media on Monday, McIlrath expressed frustration over inaccurate speculation by some members of the public about what had happened to Wells.

She also said that lawyers for Wells’ family had told her office the previous month that their own investigation had found no evidence of crimes.

"What I cannot accept, what I cannot ignore, is that false narratives — that Nolan's death was racially motivated in some way, and that this is yet another case of a young Black man denied justice by a racist, corrupt system — were perpetuated and allowed to spread.

There is not a shred of evidence to support these narratives," she said.

Lawyers for three of Wells' friends, who have faced widespread and unsubstantiated online rumors that they contributed to his death, said the grand jury's report has lifted a significant weight from their clients' shoulders.

“He said that he felt like he could breathe for the first time,” attorney Tyler Cox said of one of Wells’ friends.

“This doesn’t bring Nolan back at all, but this can at least put them on a path where they can finally mourn Nolan now that they’ve been officially cleared of any wrongdoing.”

Wells vanished while celebrating the Fourth of July with friends on Horn Island.

His body was discovered at the island's northwestern tip two days after he was last seen.

Not long after Wells was found dead, Jackson County sheriff’s officials said investigators did not suspect foul play, which sparked widespread concerns about whether law enforcement would conduct a thorough investigation in a state with a brutal history of racism and civil rights violations.

McIlrath repeatedly promised a fair and thorough investigation into his death.

Wells’ parents and their lawyers voiced suspicions after Wells’ friends departed the island without him, asserting that he had wished to remain behind to converse with a girl.

Wells’ phone was aboard the boat that had transported him to the island, which was subsequently towed partway back to the mainland after taking on water.

Crump and Wells’ parents have cast doubt on why a teenager would choose to remain on an island without his phone.

They further speculated that messages on his phone had been tampered with and alleged that his friends were reluctant to hand over his phone and keys.

Lawyers for Wells’ friends said the friends are cooperating with authorities.

The grand jury said it had received a report from Crump’s experts about what was on Wells’ phone.

While the grand jury’s redacted report did not detail the specific contents, the panel noted that Crump’s team had not turned over anything suggesting criminal actions related to Nolan’s death.

The grand jury report said that it was neither unusual nor suspicious for people to return from the island on boats they hadn’t taken to get there.

It also noted that Wells’ phone wasn’t the only one to travel back to the mainland without its owner that day.

A witness testified before the grand jury that he observed Wells slipping clumsily off the side of a boat at approximately 3:30 p.m. on July 4, yet Wells went on socializing following the fall and showed no signs of injury, according to the report.

The panel stated that it was unable to ascertain whether the fall had caused the bruising on Wells’ body.

An independent autopsy commissioned by Wells’ family said Wells suffered apparent blunt force injuries to his head and body before his death, but that the cause of the injuries remains a mystery.

That report also said that although alcohol was found in Wells' body, the result was highly unreliable because the testing involved decompositional fluid.

Such fluid examined after someone's death may include alcohol consumed during life as well as ethanol generated after death by microbial fermentation, it said.

The grand jury report concluded with the panel expressing sympathy for Wells' family.

"The evidence received in this matter convinced the Grand Jury of Mr. Wells' outstanding character," it said.