Nolan Wells Autopsy: Ben Crump Presents Independent Forensic Report

Ben Crump presented a document at the NAACP convention press conference in Chicago — an independent forensic pathology report he’d received on the death of Nolan Xavier Wells, prepared by pathologist Roger A. Mitchell Jr. of Ram Consulting.

The report explained that Dr. Mitchell’s review was limited because the trachea and larynx had already been removed during the original autopsy, without those neck structures being preserved for a second examination. That gap meant he couldn’t independently confirm or rule out trauma to the neck.

Because of that and other missing details, the document raised a set of unanswered questions: what led Wells to enter the water, his body position when found, whether water was present in his airway, whether there was evidence of neck injury, whether there was bleeding around the brain, what his stomach contents showed, and what toxicology results found.

Based on those open questions, the document classified the cause and manner of death as “Undetermined – Pending Investigation,” noting the findings were offered to a reasonable degree of medical certainty while reserving the right to revise them if more information came in later.