Three individuals are now facing charges after authorities say threats were made against a judge, a witness and local officials tied to the investigation into the death of Nolan Xavier Wells, an 18-year-old who was found dead following a Fourth of July boating outing to an island off Mississippi’s Gulf Coast.
Investigators have not indicated that any of the three defendants personally knew Wells, his relatives or the group who went boating with him, nor do they appear to have any formal role in the case. The alleged threats surfaced as public attention around Wells’ death intensified, fueled by unanswered questions about his final hours, skepticism toward law enforcement and Mississippi’s painful history of racial violence.
Wells, who was Black, had gone to the uninhabited island with a group of high school friends, all of whom were white. He did not make the return trip to the mainland with them that night. Two days later, his body was discovered in the waters off the island’s shoreline.
So far, authorities have not announced any arrests or publicly identified suspects in connection with Wells’ death. A private autopsy ordered by his family listed the cause of death as “undetermined,” with additional investigation still pending.
Efforts to contact the defendants for comment were not successful. Some phone numbers included for the defendants in court affidavits were no longer working, while another call was not answered. Emails sent to addresses listed in an affidavit for one defendant also received no response. It remains unclear whether any of them have legal representation.
According to an affidavit, one defendant, Edward James Porter of Berwyn, Illinois, is accused of calling an unidentified witness on July 31 and threatening to kill that person and their family. Porter also allegedly told another person in Mississippi by phone that he would cut them up and place them “into a suitcase.” He was charged July 31 in federal court in the Southern District of Mississippi over the alleged threat.
Family attorney Russell Latino said Porter threatened two relatives of Bart Edminston Jr., a 21-year-old who knew Wells and helped with the boat used by the group on the Fourth of July. Latino said one of the relatives Porter allegedly threatened is a witness in the investigation into Wells’ death.
A woman from Ohio has also been charged after allegedly making bomb threats to the George County Chancery Clerk’s Office and the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office on July 23. Authorities say Michelle Francine Edwards called the clerk’s office 21 times and warned that “the clock is ticking,” according to an affidavit.
A California man, Joseph Alfredo Vasquez Dumarce, was charged on July 14 for allegedly sending a threatening Facebook message to a Jackson County Chancery Court judge with ties to the Wells investigation. According to an affidavit, a Facebook user believed to be Dumarce sent a message to the judge’s account that constituted a “threat that a bomb would be mailed to the judge’s office.”
Judge Ashlee Cole posted a screenshot of Dumarce’s threatening message on Facebook on July 9. Cole wrote in an earlier Facebook post that her son last saw Wells on July Fourth around 3 p.m. and decided to “stay on the island and return inland later with another group of friends.” Cole wrote that she deactivated her Facebook and that she fears for the safety of her children.
“No one in our family is trying in any way to impede with the investigation by law enforcement or to otherwise hamper the family and law enforcement’s quest for answers,” Cole wrote, adding that her son “cooperated fully” with the sheriff’s investigation. ___ Kelety reported from Phoenix. Associated Press journalist Sophie Bates in Jackson, Mississippi, contributed.
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