Nolan Xavier Wells, an 18-year-old college football player at Southwest Mississippi Community College, went on a Fourth of July boating trip with high school friends to Horn Island, a remote barrier island about 10 miles off the Mississippi coast. He appeared to be the only Black person in the group. His friends returned to the mainland without him. His family reported him missing that evening. His body was found in the water near the island on July 6.

The state autopsy is complete but sealed until a grand jury reviews the evidence. An independent autopsy commissioned by the family ruled cause and manner of death undetermined pending investigation.