Three people charged with threats during Nolan Wells investigation

Key Points:

• Three individuals have been charged with threatening a judge, a witness, and local officials involved in the investigation of Nolan Xavier Wells' death, an 18-year-old found dead after a July Fourth boat trip near Mississippi’s Gulf Coast.
• None of the accused appear to have any connection to Wells, his family, or the investigation, and the threats have intensified amid public speculation and distrust of law enforcement.
• Wells, a Black teenager, was last seen on an uninhabited island with white friends and was found dead two days later; the cause of death remains undetermined following an independent autopsy.
• Edward James Porter of Illinois allegedly made death threats to a witness and family members connected to the investigation, while Michelle Francine Edwards from Ohio is accused of making bomb threats to local offices, and Joseph Alfredo Vasquez Dumarce from California sent a bomb threat to a judge involved in the case.
• Judge Ashlee Cole, whose son knew Wells and is cooperating with the investigation, expressed fear for her family’s safety and emphasized that her family is not obstructing the investigation.