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PASCAGOULA, Miss. — <\/span>A grand jury has found there wasn’t evidence to bring charges in the death of Nolan Wells, a Black teen who was found dead after a July 4 boating trip off the Mississippi Gulf Coast \u2014 a conclusion swiftly questioned by Wells’ family.<\/p>\n The decision announced late Monday by Angel Myers McIlrath, the district attorney overseeing Wells\u2019 case, comes after months of intense speculation about how the 18-year-old<\/a> disappeared from a bustling party and why the friends who ferried Wells to the island left without him.<\/p>\n The grand jury in Jackson County, Mississippi, found no evidence of criminal conduct and noted that examinations of his body by the Mississippi medical examiner\u2019s office and an independent forensic pathologist hired by Wells\u2019 family found the cause and manner of death<\/a> to be undetermined.<\/p>\n \u201cIf credible evidence comes to light in the future that suggests Mr. Wells\u2019 death was non-accidental, this matter should be represented to the Jackson County Grand Jury for further consideration,\u201d the panel\u2019s report said.<\/p>\n Lawyers for Wells\u2019 family, including civil rights attorney Ben Crump, said the grand jury\u2019s report leaves more questions than answers and accused the district attorney of ending the investigation<\/a> despite not determining what caused blunt force trauma on the back of Wells\u2019 head and body.<\/p>\n 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 full autopsy report by the medical examiner.<\/p>\n \u201cToday, the State of Mississippi is attempting to close the chapter on Nolan Wells\u2019 death without getting to the truth,\u201d Crump said in a statement.<\/p>\n Crump, Wells’ family and the NAACP planned a news conference Tuesday.<\/p>\n McIlrath, in a 15-minute social media video posted Monday night, expressed frustration about inaccurate speculation by some members of the public about what happened to Wells. She also said that lawyers for Wells’ family told her office last month that their own investigation found no evidence of crimes.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I cannot accept, what I cannot ignore, is that false narratives that Nolan\u2019s death was somehow racially motivated, and that this is a case of another 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,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Wells disappeared while celebrating the Fourth of July<\/a> with friends on Horn Island, an island off Mississippi\u2019s Gulf Coast. His body was discovered on the island\u2019s northwestern tip two days after he was last seen.<\/p>\n Shortly after, Jackson County Sheriff\u2019s Office officials said investigators did not suspect foul play, sparking 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.<\/p>\n