--- description: Find out why RowVaughn Wells is one of the 100 most influential people of 2023. title: RowVaughn Wells: The 100 Most Influential People of 2023 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdb2c1fa2f5d1c097/698a3bee929fadab3bbf9bd5/RowVaughn-Wells-time-100-2023.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Apr 13, 2023 # RowVaughn Wells by Ben Crump  RowVaughn Wells, center, the mother of Tyre Nichols, looks on as attorney Ben Crump, left, speaks during a press conference after an indictment hearing for five former Memphis police officers charged in the death of Nichols at the Shelby County Criminal Justice Center Friday, Feb. 17, 2023, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill) RowVaughn Wells, center, the mother of Tyre Nichols, looks on as attorney Ben Crump, left, speaks during a press conference after an indictment hearing for five former Memphis police officers charged in the death of Nichols at the Shelby County Criminal Justice Center Friday, Feb. 17, 2023, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)Brandon Dill—AP RowVaughn Wells became a figure of national influence in the face of her life’s biggest tragedy—losing her son Tyre Nichols after a beating by Memphis police in January 2023\. Tyre poignantly cried out for RowVaughn, his loving and caring mother, as he was being brutalized by the officers. That cry shook the conscience of America. Losing a child is the worst kind of pain that a parent could know, but RowVaughn has continued to demonstrate strength and assert her voice to ensure that her son’s story is not forgotten. Her goal is simply to stop these unjustified police killings of unarmed Black men. [RowVaughn’s strength](https://time.com/6251186/rowvaughn-wells-response-tyre-nichols-death/ "undefined") to purposefully share her grief in the public eye resulted in national recognition from President Biden and his Administration and renewed the calls for police reform on the federal level. _Crump, a civil rights attorney, represents the family of Tyre Nichols_ RowVaughn Wells Is on the 2023 TIME 100 List ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6269823/rowvaughn-wells/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6269823/rowvaughn-wells/"},"headline":"RowVaughn Wells","datePublished":"2023-04-13T10:32:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:22:06.728Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6269823/rowvaughn-wells/","keywords":["TIME 100","franchise","sponsorshipblock","TIME100 2023","T100ICONS2023"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdb2c1fa2f5d1c097/698a3bee929fadab3bbf9bd5/RowVaughn-Wells-time-100-2023.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdb2c1fa2f5d1c097/698a3bee929fadab3bbf9bd5/RowVaughn-Wells-time-100-2023.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6269823/rowvaughn-wells/","name":"RowVaughn Wells"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME100 | The 100 Most Influential People of 2023","description":"See all the people on Time's 2023 Time 100 list","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/P6RIsapV/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2023-04-13T10:30:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/P6RIsapV.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6269823/rowvaughn-wells/","duration":"PT1M53S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2023/6269823/rowvaughn-wells/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```