Byron Allen’s $100K Donation Pushes the Wells Family’s Fundraiser Past Its Goal as Tyler Perry Covers Funeral Costs and Colin Kaepernick Funds an Independent Autopsy
Media mogul Byron Allen has donated $100,000 to a fundraiser supporting the family of Nolan Xavier Wells, joining Tyler Perry, Colin Kaepernick and others offering financial assistance as the teen’s parents seek answers about his death.
Allen made the donation Saturday, July 11, helping push the GoFundMe established for Wells’ family beyond its goal of more than $500,000. The fundraiser was created to help ease the family’s financial burden as they prepare to bury their son and continue pressing authorities for transparency and accountability.
Other donors have included comedian Lil Rel Howery and Auburn University quarterback Deuce Knight.
The donation came one day after civil rights attorney Ben Crump announced that Perry would pay Wells’ funeral expenses and Kaepernick would fund an independent autopsy.
“We thank Colin Kaepernick for helping to pay for that independent autopsy, and we thank Tyler Perry for helping to pay for the funeral,” Crump said during a Friday news conference in Harlem, New York.
Crump appeared alongside the Rev. Al Sharpton and Wells’ parents, Christine and Elmore Wonsley, at the National Action Network’s House of Justice. Sharpton is expected to officiate Wells’ funeral service.
“We just want to know what happened and why our baby didn’t come home,” Christine Wonsley said.
Nolan Wells’ Family Questions Official Account
Wells, an 18-year-old football player at Southwest Mississippi Community College, disappeared July 4 during a boat outing with friends to Horn Island, a barrier island off the Mississippi coast.
His body was recovered near the island July 6, two days after he was reported missing.
Authorities have suggested Wells may have drowned, but Crump and the family have raised concerns about inconsistencies in witness accounts and the handling of the investigation. Crump said no one has reported seeing Wells enter the water or drown.
The family has also questioned information recovered from Wells’ phone. According to his parents, his Snapchat accounts had been erased, and location data appeared to conflict with accounts provided by people who were with him.
Wells’ parents said their son regularly stayed close to his friends and checked in with his family, making the circumstances surrounding his disappearance especially concerning.
“There is an issue of trust here that is really important,” Crump said during an appearance on “Good Morning America.”
Crump said Wells’ body was transported from Mississippi to Washington, D.C., where a second autopsy could be performed by an examiner without connections to local law enforcement.
The attorney said the decision to conduct the examination outside Mississippi reflected what he described as “a serious trust issue” surrounding the official investigation.
Colin Kaepernick Funds Independent Autopsy
Kaepernick’s assistance reportedly came through his Know Your Rights Camp organization, which has previously helped families obtain independent autopsies when they questioned findings from local authorities.
The organization has supported outside examinations in other cases involving the deaths of Black people, including families who lacked the financial resources to obtain a second medical opinion.
The Wells family has not publicly announced the results of the independent autopsy.
Crump said the purpose of the additional examination is to obtain an unbiased assessment and help the family determine what happened before Wells’ body was discovered.
Elmore Wonsley described his son as a quiet leader who hoped to create a better future for his family and serve as an example for his younger brother.
Wells would have turned 19 in August. He dreamed of transferring to a Division I football program and eventually reaching the NFL.
Tyler Perry Says Family’s ‘Agony Is Debilitating’
After agreeing to cover Wells’ funeral costs, Perry shared a statement acknowledging the pain experienced by families who lose loved ones without receiving clear answers.
“As a son of the South and a person who to this day questions the death of my nephew in a Louisiana prison, and as an advocate who has been fighting for years to get answers for Marcia Williams about what happened to her son Terrance in Florida, I know what it’s like to not have the answers that loved ones so desperately need,” Perry wrote on Instagram. “The agony is debilitating.”
Perry said he hoped Wells’ parents and everyone who loved the teen would learn the truth about what happened in Mississippi.
“It is my hope that Nolan’s parents and all who knew and loved him get to the truth of what happened in Mississippi,” he wrote.
Perry also referenced the case of Terrance Williams, who disappeared in Florida in 2004 along with another man. Both men were last seen with former Collier County sheriff’s deputy Steven Calkins.
Calkins said he released the men at a convenience store instead of arresting them. He was later fired after investigators identified inconsistencies in his statements, but he has never been charged in connection with either disappearance.
Family Calls for Peace as Support Grows
The national attention surrounding Wells’ death has renewed conversations about Black families who say the disappearances and deaths of their loved ones were not investigated with adequate urgency or transparency.
As donations and public support continued to grow, Christine Wonsley asked those advocating for her son to remain peaceful and honor his character.
“Please be peaceful,” she said. “Nolan was not someone who liked fights, physical fights. He didn’t really like arguments. Don’t go out there trying to be tough. Think about what Nolan would want, and he wouldn’t want that type of behavior.”
The family said it remains focused on obtaining an honest account of what happened to Wells and ensuring his death receives the same level of scrutiny that would be afforded to any other family.
