Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch announced on Monday that the killing of 1-year-old Kohen Wiley in a police shooting was "justified," concluding the state's investigation into the June 14 incident in Senatobia without filing any criminal charges against the officer involved. The tragic shooting took place in a busy Walmart parking lot when local police arrived in response to a reported theft complaint against Wiley's mother, Vellesiya Wiley, and another woman, Latoya Ferrell, for allegedly stealing diapers and baby clothing items.
New body-camera and surveillance footage shows five armed officers surrounding the vehicle as the women attempted to reverse into another parked car. The vehicle then suddenly accelerated and lurched toward two of the officers, prompting one or more officers to open fire into the vehicle.
The gunfire tragically killed the infant, who was sitting in his mother's lap, and injured Ferrell with a single bullet wound. According to the official statement from the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, the driver "drove in the direction of the officers, almost striking one."
This controversial decision drew swift condemnation from community leaders, legal experts, and human rights activists across the state who had been monitoring the case closely since the summer. Prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the grieving Wiley family, publicly questioned how such a conclusion could be accepted when both the family and the general public had not been granted transparent access to the complete body-camera footage.
Furthermore, local authorities have not officially charged either woman with a crime, nor have they publicly released any concrete evidence supporting the initial shoplifting allegations that triggered the police response. Kohen and both women involved in the incident are Black, while the police officer who fired the fatal shots, Hunter Foster, is white.
This racial dynamic has fueled significant public outrage and discussions about systemic bias in local law enforcement. Recent investigative reports revealed that Officer Foster had previously faced a formal complaint alleging a racially offensive remark just days before the shooting occurred, and Senatobia's police chief was subsequently fired over unrelated racist text messages.
In the wake of the attorney general's announcement, peaceful protests demanding absolute transparency, accountability, and systemic police reform have continued for weeks in Senatobia and other major Mississippi cities.