Several people with no apparent connection to the Nolan Wells case have been criminally charged with making threats amid questions surrounding the Mississippi teenager’s death in July.
The death of the 18-year-old Mississippi college freshman has drawn widespread attention since he was found dead following a boat trip to Horn Island, several miles off the Mississippi Gulf coast, with a group of friends.
Wells’s death has also heightened racial tensions: Wells was Black and three friends he was with were white. The case has prompted speculation on social media, with users questioning whether Wells’s death could have been racially motivated, as well as claims of defamation amid the investigation into the case.
In the weeks since Wells’s death, several threats have been made against Mississippi public officials.
One case centers on allegations against Michelle Francine Edwards of Cincinnati, Ohio. She has been charged with one count of transmitting a threatening communication in interstate commerce.