Attorneys Send Defamation Demand Letter to Rev. Al Sharpton Over Nolan Wells Case

Nolan Wells, an 18-year-old Black college football player, died during a July 6 trip to Horn Island, Mississippi. His body was recovered in the water with no obvious signs of trauma, prompting a state autopsy on July 7 and an independent autopsy on July 10. Both examinations await toxicology results, leaving the cause and manner of death undetermined. The case attracted national attention after photos showed Wells with three White friends—Morgan Seymour, Jax Pitalo and Warren Hudson—sparking online vitriol and media appearances by civil-rights leaders, including Rev. Al Sharpton.

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On August 21, attorneys J. Tyler Cox and Edward Paltzik filed a 19-page presuit demand letter on behalf of Seymour, Pitalo and Hudson. The letter demands that Sharpton publicly apologize, retract and delete every statement the attorneys deem false and defamatory. It sets a ten-day deadline for compliance and warns that litigation will follow if the demands are not met. The attorneys assert that Sharpton’s remarks imply the three men were involved in Wells’s disappearance, that they concealed or erased data from Wells’s phone, and that they withheld his keys.

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• Three friends are represented.

Nolan Wells’ Friends Intend to Sue Rev. Al Sharpton for Defamation as Tensions Continue to Rise

• 19-page demand letter.

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• July 6 – date Wells’s body was found.

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• July 7 and July 10 – dates of the two autopsies.

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The friends’ attorneys allege that Sharpton’s comments constitute defamation per se under Mississippi law because they suggest the friends committed felonies such as murder, hindering prosecution and tampering with evidence. They also claim the friends never possessed Wells’s phone or keys and that the phone was later found in another person’s car.

Nolan Wells’ Friends Intend to Sue Rev. Al Sharpton for Defamation as Tensions Continue to Rise

• “I don’t know what happened. But I got your history of Mississippi. And the history tells me: Black boy (who) goes out with three White kids. Three White kids come back. There’s a blurred story on what happened,” — Rev. Al Sharpton

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• “That’s too many unanswered questions for us not to say that something is amiss here,” — Rev. Al Sharpton

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• “What the friends knew, when they knew it, why they didn’t hand over the cellphone over right away when it was clear he was not back with them, the keys, all of that needs to be litigated,” — Rev. Al Sharpton

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• “This is about drawing a line against defamation, targeted harassment, threats of violence, doxxing, intimidation, and coordinated campaigns that destroy lives before the facts are known.” — Warren Hudson

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• Cause of death: Both autopsies have not produced a definitive cause, pending toxicology results.

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• Phone and keys: The demand letter asserts the friends never accessed Wells’s phone or keys, while Sharpton’s July 14 interview questioned why the phone was not immediately handed over. No independent verification of either claim has been presented.

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The demand letter gives Sharpton ten days from service to issue a verbal and written apology, retract the statements and delete related content. Failure to comply will trigger a defamation lawsuit filed by the three friends. The criminal investigation remains under District Attorney McIlrath, who has indicated that any further public disclosures will await a grand jury decision.

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