JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – The Mississippi Board of Nursing has launched a professional misconduct investigation against Christine Wells Wonsley, the mother of Nolan Wells, following an anonymous complaint.
Wonsley’s attorney, nationally renowned civil rights and personal injury lawyer Ben Crump, released a statement Wednesday condemning the investigation as a “warning shot” meant to pressure and silence a grieving mother.
Nolan Wells was found dead on Horn Island on July 6. One month later, his cause of death remains undetermined, and an independent autopsy returned inconclusive results.
Nolan Wells(Ocean Springs School District)
According to Crump, Wonsley has spent her entire career caring for patients in Mississippi without a single prior complaint to the Board of Nursing.
After Nolan’s body was found, she took a leave of absence to bury her child and search for answers. It was only after she began asking questions about her son’s death that the anonymous complaint was filed, Crump said.
“This is a warning shot at a grieving mother, meant to pressure and scare her into staying quiet,” Crump said in a statement. “It is a distraction, it is intimidation, and we will not let it stand. Christine had part of her identity stolen from her the day Nolan died. Now, someone is trying to take another piece of it. This cruelty knows no bounds.”
Crump emphasized that targeting Wonsley’s nursing license does nothing to answer the primary question of how her son died.
Nolan Wells, Elmore Wonsley, Christine Wells Wonsley(WLOX)
“Attacking a grieving mother’s career does not answer the question of what happened to Nolan,” Crump said. “It tells us the question matters and the answer is scaring somebody. We will keep asking questions and demanding the facts until Christine knows how her son died.”
Wonsley is now forced to defend her professional record while continuing to grieve her son and seek answers surrounding his death.
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