10/20/2026
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MISSISSIPPI AG RULES SHOOTING OF 1-YEAR-OLD BLACK BOY JUSTIFIED | Kohen Wiley was killed while sitting on his mother’s lap.
On June 14, 2026, 1-year-old Kohen Kartier Wiley was shot and killed while sitting on his mother’s lap inside a Ford Fusion parked outside a Walmart in Senatobia, Mississippi, about 40 miles south of Memphis.
The incident began when police responded to a reported shoplifting involving diapers and baby clothes. Officers encountered Kohen’s mother, 20-year-old Vellesiya Wiley, and her friend, Latoya Ferrell, as they left the store and entered their car with the child.
According to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, officers attempted to stop the vehicle. Investigators said the car moved toward officers and nearly struck one of them, prompting an officer to open fire.
The gunfire struck Kohen in the chest, killing him, and wounded Ferrell in the arm and thigh.
However, Kohen’s mother disputes the police account.
In a video released through her attorneys, Vellesiya said she lifted her son to show officers that a baby was inside the vehicle while her friend was reversing. She maintains that the car was not driving toward the officers and that she heard three or four gunshots after putting her son down.
An independent autopsy commissioned by the family reportedly found that the fatal bullet entered through the passenger-side window rather than the windshield. The family’s attorneys argue that this finding raises questions about the officer’s claim that the vehicle was moving toward him.
Neither Vellesiya Wiley nor Latoya Ferrell has been charged with shoplifting or any other crime.
The officer involved was identified in local reporting as Senatobia Police Sergeant Hunter Foster, who is white. He was placed on administrative leave while the state investigated the shooting.
Foster had reportedly faced previous internal complaints, including an allegation that he used racially offensive language toward a Black colleague days before the shooting. He had also been involved in an earlier incident in which he was accused of exaggerating the threat posed by a vehicle.
THE DECISION THAT SPARKED OUTRAGE
On October 19, 2026, Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch’s office announced that it had completed its review of the shooting and concluded that the officer’s use of force was justified.
However, the announcement provided few details and did not identify the officer by name.
As of that date, police body-camera footage, dashboard-camera recordings, and Walmart surveillance footage had not been made public.
A short video recorded by a bystander does not show the actual shooting or clearly establish the vehicle’s direction in relation to the officers.
Kohen’s family members, including his grandmother, said they learned about the decision through social media. They also alleged that investigators never interviewed Vellesiya.
THE FAMILY DEMANDS ANSWERS
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents the family, renewed calls for the immediate release of all available video footage.
He argued that the public cannot properly evaluate the decision without seeing the evidence. He also pointed to the independent autopsy findings and reports concerning the later firing of Senatobia’s police chief following allegations involving racial slurs in text messages.
The shooting sparked protests and marches, including a demonstration in Senatobia on June 26. Community advocates and members of the Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus have also demanded transparency and accountability.
Meanwhile, the officer’s attorney has defended the attorney general’s decision, saying it cleared his client of criminal wrongdoing. The attorney has also maintained that the driver tried to kill the officers.
A TODDLER’S DEATH STILL RAISES QUESTIONS
At the centre of this case is a one-year-old child who was not accused of committing any crime.
The police and Kohen’s mother have given sharply different accounts of what happened in that Walmart parking lot. Yet the video evidence that could help the public understand the encounter remains unavailable.
Kohen’s mother has described the pain of watching her only child take his first breath and, ultimately, his last.
Now, the family continues to demand answers about how their little boy died and why the authorities concluded that the shooting was justified.
The question remains: If the shooting was justified, why not release the available footage so the public can examine what happened?
