DPS Commissioner: No Indication Race Played a Role in Death of Nolan Wells

Verbatim quote from MS DPS Commissioner Sean Tindell: “I have no reason to believe that, and I don’t think anybody would have a reason to believe that unless they’re just being racist in their hearts and looking at a picture with a Black kid and three white friends.” Confirms Wells is Black and the trip companions were white. Use verbatim; do not paraphrase.

Note, 2026-07-28 (approval-brief): this interview also names the state medical examiner as “Dr. Stacy Turner.” The Mississippi DPS’s own official site (dps.ms.gov/forensic-laboratories/medical-examiner) spells it “Dr. Staci Turner.” Defer to the state’s own official spelling of its own official’s name.

Flagged 2026-07-29 (approval-brief round 7). The dps.ms.gov cross-check above could not be reconfirmed on retry (404s on both dps.ms.gov and msdh.ms.gov). Until someone gets a live, working citation for either the interview’s naming of the examiner or the state’s spelling of it, do not use this record to name the examiner in published prose. The essay has been changed to say “the Mississippi State Medical Examiner’s Office” without naming an individual.