Mississippi
MS prisoner Richard Jordan awaits responses from federal court, governor before execution
Executions in Mississippi: What to know
A look at the process of determining when and how a prisoner on death row in Mississippi should be executed.
The quest to halt the execution of Mississippi prisoner Richard Jordan is speeding up as his execution date nears.
Jordan, at 79 is Mississippi’s oldest prisoner on death row and is the longest-serving. He’s been on death row since 1977, after he was convicted of capital murder in the kidnapping and murder of Edwina Marter, a Gulfport bank executive’s wife and mother of two young sons.
He is scheduled for execution on Wednesday, June 25, at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman.
On Monday, June 16, Attorney General Lynn Fitch sent a letter as promised to U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate in response to a question he posed during a hearing Saturday, June 14, at the Thad Cochran Federal Courthouse in Jackson.
Wingate said Mississippi does not have a protocol in writing for the possibility of a prisoner injected with the sedative Midazolam responding to stimulation during a consciousness test conducted four minutes after the drug is administered.
If a prisoner responds to the consciousness test, the other two parts of the three-drug process of execution should not be given to the person, Jordan’s attorney James Craig said. He pointed out that the consciousness test was administered much sooner than four minutes for prisoners David Cox and Thomas Loden, who were executed in 2021 and 2022, and it is not clear whether they would have responded to pain after the second drug, a paralytic, was administered.
At the Saturday hearing, attorneys from Fitch’s office said the Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner Burl Cain would have the option to restart the process, which means giving the prisoner, in this instance, Jordan, another dose of 500 mg of Midazolam and doing another consciousness test or halt the execution.
But Wingate said the protocol wasn’t in writing and asked, before he wrote his opinion, if the state and Jordan would be willing to stop the execution until he could decide what should happen next.
Jordan and his attorneys agreed, but Wilson Minor, representing the state at the hearing, said he did not know if his client would be amenable to calling Judge Wingate in the event the consciousness test failed since there was no written protocol.
In Fitch’s letter to Wingate, filed Monday morning, she said the state indeed has a protocol that says Cain should restart the process. If the consciousness test fails a second time, he should halt the process and the court would decide what happens next. She did not specify which court.
“This is the proper course of action,” Fitch wrote. “The State’s execution protocol, like the ‘gold standard’ Oklahoma execution protocol, gives the Commissioner the discretion to restart the execution, and he should be allowed to exercise that discretion, and all other discretion under the State’s execution protocol.”
The hearing was in response to a lawsuit Jordan and others filed in 2015 challenging the three-drug protocol, saying it violates the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments.
Jordan and his co-plaintiffs say chemical executions using Pentobarbital is more effective and assures a pain-free execution.
Pentobarbital has been in short supply and difficult to obtain since 2021, but on Jan. 20, the first day of President Donald Trump’s first day of his second term, he issued an executive order, Restoring the Death Penalty and Protecting Public Safety, to guarantee states access to the drugs needed to carry out executions.
Craig filed a letter in response to Fitch’s, saying Fitch did not directly answer Wingate’s question, but basicially said Cain should be allowed to exercise sole discretion over the execution process.
“Somewhat buried in this language is the fact that the Commissioner’s answer to the Court’s question is ‘No,’” Craig wrote. “Instead, the Commissioner insists that the MDOC Protocol gives him ‘the discretion to restart the execution, and he should be allowed to exercise that discretion, and all other discretion under the State’s execution protocol.’
“The Court is correctly concerned about the consequences of allowing Commissioner Cain unbridled discretion. Under Mr. Cain, after all, the ‘consciousness check’ language of the MDOC Protocol has been changed three different times: Nov. 12, 2021, Dec. 12, 2022, and May 25, 2025.”
Craig said the 2022 protocol changed the consciousness check to four minutes after the third drug was administered, “despite the fact that the third drug, potassium chloride, ‘interferes with the electrical signals that stimulate the contractions of the heart, inducing cardiac arrest.’ The notion that the consciousness check would be performed after cardiac arrest demonstrates a profound lack of understanding about the reason for the check.”
As of Wednesday evening, June 18, Wingate had not filed his opinion on the matter.
Jordan has a petition for an emergency stay of execution awaiting a decision in the U.S. Supreme Court. The justices had scheduled the matter for conference Wednesday but have not shared the results of their discussion.
Also on Wednesday, the Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood and others against capital punishment held another call for the state to “Stand Down” on the execution of Jordan.
Earlier this week, a petition was sent to Gov. Tate Reeves requesting an in-person interview where Jordan’s representatives could plead for clemency on his behalf.
“Richard Gerald Jordan requests that you commute his death sentence to the lesser penalty of life in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections without parole,” Jordan’s representative Frank D. Rosenblatt wrote on Monday. Mr. Jordan’s representatives also request a fifteen-minute in-person or virtual interview with you. It is the long-standing practice of the Office of the Governor in Mississippi to allow a fifteen to twenty-minute meeting with a death-sentenced inmate’s representatives.”
Reeves had not responded as of Wednesday evening.
On Monday, Eric Marter, the eldest son of Edwina and Charles Marter said neither he nor his father nor his brother Kevin would attend the execution.
Lici Beveridge is a reporter for the Hattiesburg American and the Clarion Ledger. Contact her at lbeveridge@gannett.com. Follow her on X @licibev or Facebook at facebook.com/licibeveridge.
Mississippi teen found dead on Horn Island. Investigation is ongoing
Authorities ID’d a body found on Horn Island as Mississippi teen Nolan Wells, who went missing on July 4. Deputies are investigating what happened.
Attorney Ben Crump says Nolan Xavier Wells’ family is pursuing an independent autopsy. Investigators continue working to determine what happened to the 18-year-old after his body was found on Horn Island this week.
Wells, 18, went missing on Saturday, July 4, after taking a boat to the island with friends. A body was found Monday, ending a two-day search.
Jackson County Coroner Bruce Lynd told the Sun Herald on Tuesday that the body was identified as Wells. The State Medical Examiner’s Office used dental records to confirm his identity. Officials did not release his cause of death.
In an exclusive interview with Don Lemon on Wednesday, Crump said the body was being flown to Washington, D.C., for a medical examiner to study.
Wells’ disappearance led to an outpouring of prayers, volunteer efforts and community support. By Wednesday morning, a GoFundMe to help the family had raised more than $237,000.
There are still many questions about why Wells was on the island after the boat with his high school friends left. What happened before his death remains unclear.
On Tuesday, his family hired nationally known civil rights attorney Crump and his team to help them find answers in the case.
What was Nolan Wells’ cause of death?
Crump said the second autopsy will find out “if he had any physical injuries to his body beyond drowning.” He was unaware of the physical condition of the body at the time of the interview.
The remains were being flown to Washington on Wednesday. Crump said his team expects the results on Friday.
Crump said investigators in Mississippi have not given them information about the state’s autopsy.
Crump says family is living in a nightmare
Crump told Lemon the family is living in a nightmare, and they still have many questions about the young man’s death.
He was clear, however, that his investigation is still in very early stages and they are not sure yet if they will find signs of foul play. If they do, he said, they will work with local law enforcement and the state if there’s anyone who should face criminal charges.
According to the attorney, the sheriff’s office has not shared information with the family about what happened and whether the sheriff’s office suspects criminal behavior.
“There’s no information that we have right now that would lead us to believe that a crime has occurred,” Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter told ABC News earlier this week.
He said the family has concerns about “inconsistencies” including texts deleted from Wells’ phone. They don’t want Wells’ death to be called an accident and swept under the rug if it wasn’t.
Crump said Wells had a tryout to play Division I football on Monday. The teen was reportedly avoiding substances that could affect his performance. His family said he was an extraordinary athlete and strong swimmer.
There was allegedly an argument on the island, Crump said. Now, Wells’ family isn’t accepting that his death could be a coincidence.
Lemon asked if they knew what the argument was and if Wells and his group were involved. Crump said they have an investigator talking to Wells’ friends. He plans to share the information when the issue becomes clear.
Crump said investigation, not speculation, is the goal.
Questions remain after Horn Island death
Ledbetter said the county’s investigation is still active.
According to reporting from TMZ, the sheriff’s office was investigating a video shared on social media that appears to show people arguing on Horn Island on the holiday. It’s unclear if the footage, which shows a crowded beach, is related to the case.
Crump and his legal team are planning their independent review. They have committed to urging “the timely release of all records, witness accounts, and autopsy findings.”
What investigators know so far
Wells was reported missing over the holiday weekend after traveling to Horn Island with friends on July 4. The barrier island is part of Gulf Islands National Seashore.
Wells, who also went by Nono, was last seen on the northwest tip of Horn Island on the afternoon of Saturday, July 4. He did not come back to the mainland with his group, and his mom reported him missing that night.
The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office led a search on land and water Sunday and Monday. The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, National Park Service employees and the U.S. Coast Guard helped with the search. The United Cajun Navy and other volunteers also worked to find Wells.
His mother, Christine Wonsley, said during the search that she and his father had received Wells’ phone. Location tracking wasn’t an option while they looked for him.
A park ranger found the body Monday morning. The identification was confirmed Tuesday following an autopsy.
Investigators are still trying to determine why he didn’t leave the island and who he was with. They’re limiting the information released at this time as deputies work to find witnesses and collect evidence.
Authorities seek witnesses, photos and video
Ledbetter issued a statement saying rumors, commentary and unchecked information spreading on social media have been a challenge in the investigation.
Deputies need to speak to people who were at Horn Island. They’re also looking for original photos, video or sound recordings.
They are asking anyone who saw or heard an “argument, disturbance or other unusual activity” on the island to come forward.
Call 228-769-3065 during regular business hours or 228-769-3063 after hours if you have firsthand information about the case.
Bonnie Bolden is the Deep South Connect reporter for Mississippi with USA TODAY Network. Email her at bbolden@usatodayco.com.
PEARL, Miss. (WLBT) – Mississippi’s first Dutch Bros is now open in Pearl!
The coffee shop had its grand opening on Wednesday, July 8, around 5 a.m. It is located at 200 Bass Pro Dr.
To celebrate the grand opening, customers can enjoy $3 medium drinks on Wednesday.
Store hours are Sun-Thurs: 5 a.m.- 10 p.m., Fri-Sat: 5 a.m.- 11 p.m.
Dutch Bros now has stores in 26 states.
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Copyright 2026 WLBT. All rights reserved.
Mississippi
Police investigating video of Nolan Wells’ alleged argument on Horn Island before Mississippi teen went missing
MIAMI – Police are said to be investigating a video that allegedly shows a heated argument before Mississippi teen Nolan Xavier Wells went missing and was later found dead – as his grandfather said: “There’s nothing right about this.”
The 18-year-old star football player vanished during a Fourth of July boat trip with friends Saturday and a body which authorities said matched his description was found Monday morning.
Wells was last seen around 3 p.m. Saturday “talking to a girl” at the north end of Horn Island, a popular barrier island about 10 miles off the Mississippi Gulf Coast, the Cajun Navy Jackson County Sheriff’s Department said.
Law enforcement have been looking into a viral clip circulated online which appears to show several people having an “intense” argument near the shoreline, TMZ reported.
It sparked speculation that the tense moment could be connected to Wells’ disappearance.
However, authorities have not confirmed that the footage is authentic or whether the people seen in it have any connection to the college student.
Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter said that Wells’ friends had left the island and gone back without him, ABC News reported.
“From what we understand, he chose to stay there,” Ledbetter added.
Ledbetter said in a statement released Tuesday afternoon that officers want to speak with anyone who “observed or heard an argument, disturbance, or other unusual activity while on the island that day.”
Meanwhile, the family of the teen – who played as a wide receiver at Southwest Mississippi Community College – said they were seeking answers.
“Too many unanswered questions — how can a Island that was searched yesterday produce my grandsons body this morning,” his grandfather Christopher Wells Sr. wrote on Facebook on Monday.
“There’s nothing right about this, Nolan Xavier Wells deserved the same things that people he knew and associated with will enjoy in life.”
Wells Sr. later said Wells’ mom Christine and dad Elmore had “prayed for a positive outcome but they also had to prepare themselves for the worst”, adding that “it’s time for answers.”
Photos of the 6-foot-1, 180-pound teen showed him shirtless while sporting blue swim trunks, sunglasses and grinning alongside friends on a boat before he went missing.
The United Cajun Navy non-profit disaster relief organization launched aerial reconnaissance during the search to scour the waters between Horn Island and Ship Island, stretching south to the Chandelier Islands.
The United States Coast Guard, the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, and the Harrison County Sheriff’s Department also reportedly assisted in the frantic search.
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