Atlanta’s Tyler Perry adds $50,000 to reward in Nolan Wells case
Atlanta filmmaker Tyler Perry and the Rev. Al Sharpton offered a $100,000 reward Monday for information that could lead to an arrest and conviction in the death of 18-year-old Nolan Xavier Wells.
In announcing the reward, Sharpton, who officiated Wells’ funeral at Center Pointe Church in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, said there were still “many unanswered questions” surrounding Wells’ death.
He said Perry — who also paid for the funeral — contributed half the reward money.
“I want to put up a reward of $50,000 for anybody who could give the information that will lead to an arrest and a conviction in the case of what happened,” Sharpton said during his fiery eulogy. “He was not on that island by himself; somebody saw something and knows something. So, I didn’t come to make money. I came to give money. Stand up and tell the truth. Whatever it is, good or bad.”
Moments after he announced his $50,000 reward through his National Action Network, Sharpton told the mourners that Perry texted him saying he would match the amount for anyone who comes forward with information to help the case.
Wells, who was Black, traveled to Horn Island, a popular Fourth of July destination off Mississippi’s Gulf Coast, with a group of high school friends. Authorities said he did not return to the mainland with the group that night. His body was found off the island’s coast two days later.
Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter said initial interviews indicated Wells chose to remain on the island and that his friends believed he planned to catch a ride back with someone else. The friends have cooperated with investigators, Ledbetter said.
But with the circumstances surrounding Wells’ disappearance still unknown, the case has fueled widespread online speculation and drawn the attention of civil rights leaders and others who have questioned the independence and transparency of the investigation.
Football player-turned-activist Colin Kaepernick helped fund an independent autopsy, and Byron Allen donated $100,000 to Wells’ family.
On Monday, family members and supporters of Wells filled the Mississippi church to mourn and celebrate the 18-year-old.
Filmmaker Spike Lee and former football player Terrell Owens were in attendance at the funeral.
“We’ve got to meet and find what is just and fair,” Sharpton said. “That is why we’ve got to celebrate Nolan, and at the same time say we want a full and thorough investigation.”
Sharpton placed Wells’ death within Mississippi’s long history of racial violence, invoking Emmett Till and Medgar Evers.
In his eulogy, he preached that God could use the occasion of Wells’ death to make Black and white people in Mississippi “come together.”
Sharpton said the family does not need the truth to be “sugar-coated.”
“We want answers,” Sharpton said. “For the family, closure can come if there’s justice.”
Wells’ parents, who have been at the forefront in calls for answers and justice, described their son as a warm and gentle presence, a role model to his younger siblings and a gifted athlete with NFL ambitions.
“He had a way of making people feel seen, welcomed and valued,” said his mother, Christine Wonsley. “He could lift your confidence with just a few words and make you feel like you belong.”
“We will always be proud of the love, kindness and faith you have left behind.”
The Associated Press contributed to the report.