Megachurch Pastor Jamal Bryant is set to lead a prayer rally in Mississippi on Wednesday, marking what would have been the 19th birthday of Nolan Wells, the 18-year-old student-athlete found dead near Horn Island off the Mississippi Gulf Coast last month.
Bryant, senior pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest, Georgia, announced the rally in a statement provided to The Christian Post: “There are moments in history when silence becomes too expensive. There are moments when prayer must leave the sanctuary and stand in the public square. This is one of those moments.”
The National Prayer Rally for Nolan Wells is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Greater St. John AME Church in Biloxi, roughly 5 miles from Wells’ hometown of Ocean Springs, according to WLOX. “Nolan Wells should be turning 19 on the 19th but he’s NOT!” Bryant wrote on Instagram, urging supporters to travel to the Gulf Coast. “Prayer is a weapon that never runs out of ammunition. … This is not over!!”
“Over the past several weeks, our nation has watched with heavy hearts as the family of Nolan Wells… has sought answers surrounding the circumstances of his tragic death after a Fourth of July boating trip to Horn Island,” Bryant wrote. “As questions remain and the family continues to call for truth, transparency, and a thorough investigation, voices across the country have joined them in seeking justice.”
The Rev. Al Sharpton and the National Action Network are separately organizing a national virtual prayer vigil at noon Wednesday, according to CNN, urging clergy and supporters nationwide to pray for Wells and his family.
Wells, who graduated from Ocean Springs High School, was a beloved football player at Southwest Mississippi Community College. He was last seen alive on Horn Island at approximately 3 p.m. on July 4, and didn’t return to the mainland with the friends he traveled with that day.
His mother, Christine Wonsley, reported him missing that night, and his body was found washed up on the island on July 6, after a multi-agency search involving the U.S. Coast Guard, the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, the National Park Service, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office and the United Cajun Navy.
Bryant’s prayer rally comes just days after members of the Congressional Black Caucus sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel urging the Department of Justice to “immediately launch an independent federal review of the circumstances surrounding the disappearance and death” of Wells.
“We recognize that local authorities have an ongoing investigation. However, we are concerned by the silence and lack of answers the Wells family and the public have received over the past month. A local investigation does not diminish the need for federal assistance or an independent assessment of whether additional investigative resources or federal jurisdiction are warranted,” wrote U.S. Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.
“Nor should federal involvement be viewed as prejudging the facts or conclusions of any investigation. We simply want to ensure that every appropriate resource, investigative tool, and avenue of inquiry is being used to establish the truth.”
Local authorities have suggested they did not suspect any foul play in the teenager’s death and that it was likely an accidental drowning, but his parents, Christine and Elmore Wonsley, have raised concerns mainly because of how the three friends their son traveled with to the island have responded. The teens have since obtained lawyers.
Elmore Wonsley said when he went to retrieve his son’s keys from the friend’s house where he stayed the night before heading out to Horn Island, the friend “just acted like he didn’t know where they were.”
“It was like he was clueless. He was like, ‘Ahhh, I don’t know,'” he said.
The grieving father said he pleaded with his son’s friend to go into a room at the house so he could get the keys to his son’s car, which was parked on the property, but the friend allegedly refused. Wonsley said he was very emotional at that point. He then stepped away from the house, but about 5 minutes later the friend presented him with the keys to his son’s car. He said after he got the keys, the friend and his family stayed inside the home until the police arrived.
Christine Wonsley told reporters at a press conference in New York City last month that “Although I do absolutely respect law enforcement, just the fact that [the] accidental drowning thing, it made both me and his father uncomfortable. Why are we so quick to rush to this?”
Jackson County District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath has defended the handling of the case amid public criticism. “I do not have the freedom to publicly adopt a narrative and choose one fact over another,” she said in a statement cited by Kemetic Minds.
The legal team for Wells’ family, led by civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump, said Monday that they are now ready for a joint forensic inspection of his mobile phone with local authorities.
“We are eager to comply with the agreement we entered on July 15, which is a joint forensic examination of Nolan’s phone conducted together, with their experts, our experts, and possibly the FBI,” the legal team said in a statement cited by WLBT.
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