Police shooting that killed 1-year-old Senatobia boy ruled justified; civil rights attorney responds
By Richard Bourne
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JACKSON, Mississippi (WAPT) — The Senatobia Police Department is responding after Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch’s Office released its decision in the investigation into a police officer-involved shooting in Senatobia that killed a 1-year-old boy.
The department saying they want to have open conversation as the they know the community is upset behind the decision.
The attorney general’s office found that the use of force was justified.
When asked about that decision, Fitch told 16 WAPT, “Certainly very tragic, the loss of that young child, but the AG’s office, we certainly just look at the law and the facts and make a determination based on that.”
Community members and civil rights leaders have been calling for “justice for baby Kohen Wiley” ever since he was shot and killed.
Investigators said the incident occurred June 14 in a Walmart parking lot, where an officer responding to a shoplifting call fired into a vehicle, killing Kohen and seriously wounding the driver. Senatobia police said the officer believed the driver was moving toward him.
Vellesiya Wiley was with Kohen and a friend when officers responded to that shoplifting call. Her friend was the woman police accused of stealing diapers, then trying to get away in a car.
“They were called over a box of diapers, and a family now has to bury their baby. You cannot put those two things next to each other and call it reasonable policing. Shoplifting a box of diapers ends up with you shooting into a moving vehicle. This 1-year-old baby couldn’t put his hands up. A 1-year-old baby is not a threat to officers with a gun,” said attorney Ben Crump during a press conference on June 22.
Crump, who is representing Vellesiya Wiley and the family of Kohen, responded to news of the attorney general’s decision by insisting that body camera footage of the shooting be released.
They said following the shooting, records from the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation identify Senatobia Police Sgt. Hunter Foster as the subject of the investigation.
On Sept. 1, the Senatobia Board of Aldermen voted unanimously to fire Police Chief Harold Vanderford after The New York Times reported he repeatedly used racial slurs in text messages.
Crump released a statement Monday afternoon, saying in part, “This is a department whose chief was fired after reports of racial slurs in his text messages, and whose officer faced a complaint alleging a racially offensive remark two days before he shot Kohen. If the footage supports the state’s decision, release it.(body-cam footage) We will not stop fighting until this family gets the truth.”
Chairman Rep. Kabir Karriem of the Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus said, “Kohen Wiley was a baby. He posed no threat. He deserved protection, and he deserved a future. His family is owed more than a conclusion. They are owed the evidence, the explanation and the truth. Release the video. Explain what the evidence shows about the officer’s position, the vehicle’s movement and the circumstances of each shot. Explain how your office evaluated the danger to Kohen and the other occupants. Address the questions raised by his family and their attorneys. A declaration of justification is not a substitute for accountability.”
Below is the entire release from Fitch’s office: “Today, the Office of the Attorney General announced it has completed the review of a June 14, 2026 incident in Senatobia involving one officer with the Senatobia Police Department. In this incident, the Attorney General’s Office found the use of force was justified. Pursuant to Section 45-1-6 of the Mississippi Code, the review followed an investigation by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation.”
The attorney general’s office told the head of the Mississippi Department of Public Safety that there was insufficient evidence of any criminal conduct to present the case to a grand jury, saying it was declining to prosecute and would be closing the case.
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