Warren Hudson, the best friend of the late college football player Nolan Wells, stated that he did not attend Wells’ funeral due to receiving thousands of death threats.
Hudson shared his reasons in an interview on The Officer Tatum podcast, released on Saturday. He explained that his own safety and the safety of his family were paramount in his decision not to attend the service on Monday.
"With everything going on on social media right now with people saying the crazy things that they’re saying, I would never want to take the attention off of Nolan and his family,” Hudson said. “They don’t deserve that.”
Hudson was with Wells when the 18-year-old college football star disappeared on July 2, shortly after celebrating the Fourth of July holiday at Horn Island. Wells' body was discovered on July 6. His death is currently under investigation.
Preliminary findings from an independent autopsy, released Wednesday, listed Wells' cause and manner of death as undetermined, with his date of death also unknown. Wells was laid to rest in a closed casket at a funeral service attended by director Spike Lee and former NFL star Terrell Owens.
"You know, for my own personal reasons, I mean, I’ve gotten thousands of death threats,” Hudson said. “My family’s got thousands of death threats. And, you know, for my own safety, I’m not going to put my own health and safety at risk.”
Hudson expressed his heartbreak over missing the funeral, stating, “It breaks my heart that I can’t go. And it hurt me more than anything because, you know, obviously I want to say my last goodbyes to one of my best friends.” He added, “But I mean, if I’m getting thousands of death threats of people saying they’re going to kill me and do crazy things to my family…I couldn’t bring myself to go because, you know, I got to put my own safety first.”
Wells' mother, Christine Wonsley, attended the service and spoke through tears, saying, “As long as we continue to remember him, his light will continue to shine through us all.”