Three individuals face charges related to threats against witnesses in the investigation of Mississippi teen Nolan Wells’s death. Edward James Porter is among those charged with making threats. On July 31, he allegedly threatened two witnesses, according to court documents. The threats involved multiple phone calls where he claimed he would harm them and their families. One witness was told they would be cut up and placed in a suitcase.
Nolan Wells’s body was discovered on July 6 at Horn Island’s northwest tip in Mississippi. He had been there with friends to celebrate July 4. Friends said they left early as their boat was taking on water, with Wells opting to stay to find another ride. This was the last time they saw him. When Wells didn’t return, his mother and a friend reported him missing. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump is representing the family, questioning circumstances surrounding Wells’s death and raising concerns of racial factors, as Wells was one of a few Black individuals present. Crump also dismissed suggestions of accidental drowning, citing Wells’s swimming skills and athletic background.
Another individual, Joseph Alfredo Vasquez Dumarce, was charged after allegedly sending threatening Facebook messages to a Jackson County Chancery Court judge on July 11. These messages, tracked to Dumarce’s account, included threats of sending a bomb to the judge’s office. Ashlee Cole, connected to the case as a judge and mother of one of Wells’s friends, shared social media screenshots of similar threats.
The third person charged is Michelle Francine Edwards, accused of making a bomb threat to the George County chancery clerk’s office on July 23, followed by another threat to the Jackson County sheriff’s office. Edwards reportedly made over 20 calls to the clerk’s office within eight minutes, issuing ominous messages.
No legal representation for Porter, Dumarce, or Edwards is mentioned. NBC News has sought comments from the Jackson County public defender’s office on these cases.