Friends of Nolan Wells File Defamation Suit Against Terrell Owens Over Instagram Post

Three friends of Nolan Wells, a Mississippi teenager who died following a July boating excursion, have filed a defamation lawsuit against Pro Football Hall of Famer Terrell Owens.

On September 26, Owens posted an Instagram video implying that Wells’s friends—Warren Hudson, Jax Pitalo, and Morgan Seymour—had erased evidence from Wells’s phone after his death, a claim the three men refute in their complaint.

Owens captioned the post, “Arrest them immediately!! Like yesterday.”

In a complaint filed Monday in a Mississippi district court, the fathers of the three youths—who are also listed as plaintiffs because the youths are minors under state law—allege that Owens damaged their reputations and jeopardized their safety through the post.

The complaint states, “Because of Owens’s actions and those of other less‑known individuals, these completely innocent young men have faced thousands of death threats, in‑person harassment, and constant fear and ridicule from strangers. They have even been denied service at public venues. Their lives—and those of their families—will never be the same.”

Owens was not immediately available for comment.

The plaintiffs’ attorneys said they also plan to pursue legal action against other public figures who have commented on Wells’s death, such as Al Sharpton and Sunny Hostin of The View.

On July 4, Wells and his friends set sail for a Mississippi island. He was last seen that afternoon, and his body was discovered two days later on the island.

The circumstances surrounding his death have sparked public speculation. Wells, who is African American, had been socializing with a predominantly white group of friends—a detail that circulated online, with some users linking it to Mississippi’s history of racial violence.

In late September, a Mississippi grand jury decided not to bring criminal charges, determining that Wells’s death appeared “consistent with drowning.” Jackson County District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath stated that the death was not racially motivated.

Wells’s parents and civil rights attorney Ben Crump continue to demand further investigation, pointing to the state autopsy report that found Wells’s airways and stomach empty. His family argues that the absence of water contradicts the drowning conclusion.

Christine Wonsley, Wells’s mother, said at a Monday press conference, “I cannot accept that ruling, and I cannot move forward with my life.” She added, “We are left with more questions and heartbreak than answers.”

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