Attorney Benjamin Crump is currently representing the family of Nolan Wells as they seek answers concerning the death of the Black teenager after an outing with a group of white friends. As he does, Crump has now highlighted two other mysterious deaths in unrelated incidents, calling for authorities and the public to do more to determine how these young men died as well.
Daniel Erving drowned; friends charged with evidence tampering but not Erving’s death
Crump held a Wednesday morning press conference with Wells’ parents and leaders of the NAACP to announce the inconclusive findings of a second autopsy of Wells’ body. Crump called for Mississippi authorities and possible witnesses to do more to help determine how the 18-year-old died after a July 4 outing to a Mississippi island with a group of white friends. Crump also noted that at least two other Black male teenagers also died after going out with all-white groups.
In April, the body of high school senior Daniel Erving was found in a lake near Dallas, Texas. The Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Office concluded that Earvin drowned on April 17, four days after he was last seen at his home. Investigators allege that Erving and two other teens, 19-year-old Lucas Roper and a 16-year-old juvenile, voluntarily jumped into the water from a bridge but that Erving drowned accidentally.
Roper and the 16-year-old are accused of failing to report his death and charged with tampering with evidence for disposing of Erving’s cell phone and clothes and deleting messages between them. Roper claims to have “panicked” after Erving’s death, while the mother of the younger teenager claims that her son attempted to help Erving as he drowned. However, investigators have ruled the death an accidental drowning. Erving’s family, however, are not accepting these findings, pointing out that Erving was a responsible young man and a member of the swim team.
“As a mother, I knew something was wrong on day one,” Tameca Erving said to reporters about her son’s death. “I feel like my son only received partial justice. But we’re here to have murder charges brought against those two.”
Tyler Smith was killed on July 4 under suspicious circumstances
During Wednesday’s press conference, Crump also brought up the case of Kentucky teen Tyler Smith, a recent Lafayette High School graduate who died of a gunshot wound on July 4. Bryce Chestnut, 20, has been charged with tampering with evidence in that case. Authorities claim Chestnut gave Smith a gun and that Smith then used that gun on himself, after which Chestnut removed the gun from the scene. Police found a different weapon with Smith’s body that they determined did not match the shell casing also recovered from the scene.
Smith’s family rejects the finding that his fatal wound was self-inflicted, noting that Smith “loved life” and that nothing indicated he would have intentionally harmed himself. At Wednesday’s press conference, Crump — who is also representing Smith’s family — cast doubt on a different narrative about the death. According to Crump, Smith was the only Black attendee “at a house party with about 10 other people,” and other partygoers claimed that he accidentally shot himself while they were playing a game of Russian roulette. Crump called that story into question, however, claiming that police simply took the word of those present and refused to conduct gunpowder residue tests on the hands of Smith or the other partygoers to determine who had fired the weapon.
The Erving and Smith cases, though unrelated to Nolan Wells, have disturbing similarities to Wells’ death, which occurred after he and a group of friends traveled to a Mississippi island. Wells, like Smith, died on July 4 after being the only Black person among a group of white peers, and many suspicions surround Wells’ friends concerning why they would have left him alone on the island as the rest of the group returned. Erving’s case is also reminiscent of the details surrounding Wells’ death, as Wells, like Erving, was somehow left alone by his group of white friends and separated from his phone. No one has been charged in connection with Wells’ case, and his cause of death remains undetermined.
Crump is currently representing all three families. He has presented the three teenagers’ deaths as part of a disturbing trend and called for more thorough investigations into all three deaths.
So far, no one has been charged with causing or contributing to the deaths of these three 18-year-olds. But as their families seek answers and reject the narratives being painted about their deaths, Crump and others are attempting to draw attention to these cases and pressure authorities to do more to determine the truth concerning the deaths of these young men.