By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2026-07-31 00:15:54 | Updated at 2026-08-10 16:21:28
1 week ago
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On July 6, the body of Nolan Wells, an 18-year-old from Ocean Springs, Mississippi, was reportedly found by a National Park Service agent face down in the waters off Horn Island.
Two days earlier, Wells - by every account, an exceptional young man - had gone on a boat trip to the undeveloped Gulf Coast barrier island for a Fourth of July celebration.
In Ocean Springs, the gathering is almost a rite of passage. Hundreds of people collect there every year to swim, socialize and, yes, drink alcohol. And while the exact circumstances of Wells's death are yet to be determined, a local sheriff made an initial declaration of death by accidental drowning with no suspected foul play.
The fact that Wells appeared to be socializing with an exclusively white group of friends, however, seemed to be enough to convince many that something criminal occurred.
On July 20th, Al Sharpton, one of America's most prominent civil rights activists, showed up in Ocean Springs to deliver the eulogy at Wells's funeral.
'For an 18-year-old young man to no longer be with us, we want answers, not bias either way: just answers,' Sharpton said. 'I think that for the family, the closure can come if there is justice.'
Sharpton announced a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction 'in the case of what happened' to Wells. 'We cannot say it was racist, but we cannot say it was not racist,' Sharpton told the mourners. 'Let's not judge either way until all the evidence is in.'
On July 6, the body of Nolan Wells (second from right), an 18-year-old from Ocean Springs, Mississippi, was reportedly found by a National Park Service agent face down in the waters off Horn Island
On July 20th, Al Sharpton (far right), one of America's most prominent civil rights activists, showed up in Ocean Springs to deliver the eulogy at Wells's funeral
Sharpton announced a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction 'in the case of what happened' to Wells
Actor and producer Tyler Perry quickly matched Sharpton's offer, creating a potential a six-figure payday to solve a crime that quite possibly has not occurred.
It also created a media firestorm, something that the death of thousands in Chicago every year don't receive.
Over the last decade, almost 7,000 people were murdered in Chicago. Almost 90 percent of them were black. One of them was my innocent teenage brother Christian, who was murdered in a drive-by shooting on Chicago's South Side on June 24, 2022.
Undoubtably, Wells's parents deserve answers.
I understand that better than most.
Chicago police have never arrested anyone connected to my brother's death. They've never named any suspects and I have never stopped searching for answers. But Al Sharpton has never demanded 'justice' for the death of my brother or many of the hundreds of young black people who are killed by violence in Chicago every year.
This past Saturday, I organized a Community March Against Violence through the Caldwell Foundation for Public Safety, which I started after my brother was murdered.
We began marching at Morgan Park High School, the school Christian attended, only a few blocks from where he was killed. Community members lined the streets and cheered as we marched. We marched to demand accountability, safer communities and the recognition that black lives lost to violence in American cities deserve the same urgency as any other story.
Actor and producer Tyler Perry quickly matched Sharpton's offer, creating a potential a six-figure payday to solve a crime that quite possibly has not occurred
Author Gianno Caldwell (r), with his brother Christian, who was murdered by gunfire in Chicago in 2022
Illinois has spent over $3 billion on migrant issues since 2022, That same state spent only $57 million on violence prevention in the communities bearing the overwhelming burden of Chicago's bloodshed. Yet there's no national outrage, no Al Sharpton press conferences, no rush of cameras over that injustice.
Why do stories, without confirmed evidence of a crime, generate wall-to-wall national coverage, while the loss of black lives in places like Chicago barely register? Where is Sharpton?
The answer, in my opinion, is that to the likes of America's so-called civil rights leaders, Wells's death was a tragedy and an opportunity.
My words do not take away from the tragic loss Nolan Wells' parents feel. I am a grieving brother. I understand their pain in a way most people cannot. But until we have evidence of what took place, we are screaming without reason. And the families of Chicago's nearly 7,000 murdered deserve the same sustained, relentless attention.
Nolan Wells deserved better. My brother Christian deserved better. And every Black life lost in the streets of America deserves better.
Gianno Caldwell is a Fox News political analyst, founder of the Caldwell Foundation for Public Safety, and author of The Night My Brother Was Murdered. Learn more at caldwellsafety.org. X:@GiannoCaldwell
