The short version
- Michelle Francine Edwards faces charges for allegedly calling George County offices with bomb threats and violent language.
- Joseph Alfredo Vasquez Dumarce is accused of sending threatening messages to a judge whose son was present during the incident.
- The case continues to draw national attention amid racial tensions and pending official autopsy results.
Federal prosecutors have charged two individuals with making threats against public officials involved in the investigation surrounding the death of Nolan Wells, an 18-year-old Mississippi college student. The charges emerge as the case intensifies scrutiny on local authorities and heightens racial tensions in the region. Wells was found dead in July after a boat trip to Horn Island with friends, an incident that has sparked widespread speculation and online harassment.
Michelle Francine Edwards of Cincinnati, Ohio, faces one count of transmitting threatening communications across state lines. Court records indicate she used a blocked number to call the chancery clerk’s office in George County approximately 21 times during July. During these calls, she allegedly warned officials not to go outside and made references to bombs and death. The threats prompted authorities to lock down the building and deploy canine units for a bomb sweep.
In a separate matter, Joseph Alfredo Vasquez Dumarce of Sacramento, California, was arrested on similar charges. He is accused of sending threatening messages to Chancery Judge Ashlee Cole, whose son participated in the boat trip with Wells. According to court documents and social media posts by the judge, Dumarce sent messages predicting a package would arrive at her office, causing bloodshed. The messages included claims that federal agents could not stop the attack.
The legal actions against these individuals occur while the official cause of Wells’s death remains under review. An independent autopsy, funded by former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, listed the cause and manner of death as undetermined pending further investigation. That report noted missing neck tissue and unexplained discoloration on the back of Wells’s head. Meanwhile, the state medical examiner has completed its own autopsy, but results have not been released publicly, having instead been sent to a grand jury.
Civil rights leaders and Wells’s family continue to demand transparency regarding the circumstances of his death. Rev. Al Sharpton spoke at the funeral, which was funded by filmmaker Tyler Perry, calling for answers rather than bias. An online fundraiser has collected nearly $94,000 to help Wells’s friends defend against potential litigation stemming from the intense public scrutiny and accusations they have faced since the incident.
Sources behind this briefing
Go to the original reporting
- The Guardian US↗Nolan Wells death: at least two people charged over alleged threats to officials
