Edward James Porter and Two Others Charged with Making Threats During Nolan Wells Death Investigation
Three individuals have been charged with making various threats during the ongoing investigation into the death of Mississippi teenager Nolan Wells. Edward James Porter, an Illinois man, is accused of repeatedly calling two witnesses to threaten their lives and those of their families. Joseph Alfredo Vasquez Dumarce, from California, is charged with sending a Facebook message to Judge Ashlee Cole, who is the mother of one of Wells's friends, threatening to send a bomb to her office. Michelle Francine Edwards, from Ohio, is charged with making multiple bomb threats to the George County chancery clerk’s office and the Jackson County sheriff’s office. These charges come as the death of Nolan Wells, who was found dead on Horn Island, remains under scrutiny. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump has questioned the circumstances of the death, noting that Wells was one of the few Black people in a group of friends who were mostly white. While the state has completed an autopsy, the results have not yet been released to the public. The investigation continues as the family seeks answers regarding the potential racial motivations behind the Wells death.