Mississippi officer cleared after fatally shooting toddler Kohen Wiley

Mississippi authorities have released body-worn camera footage showing the fatal police shooting of a one-year-old toddler during a confrontation in a car park. The case, which has drawn intense scrutiny and sparked local protests and vigils, centers on an encounter that unfolded outside a retail store when law enforcement officers responded to an initial report of suspected shoplifting. The release of the multi-angle footage this week has ignited a fierce debate between the child's family, civil rights advocates, and legal representatives for the officer involved, touching on broader questions regarding police use of force during encounters involving moving vehicles.

The incident occurred on 14 June, according to reporting detailed by outlets including Ktvu and the BBC, in the car park of a Walmart store in Senatobia, located roughly forty miles south of Memphis, Tennessee. Officers responded to an unrelated call before a store employee alerted them to two women running from the establishment. Five law enforcement officers ran toward a parked vehicle with their weapons drawn as Kohen Wiley sat on the lap of his mother, Vellesiya Wiley, alongside another woman.

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The vehicle first reversed and struck a nearby parked car before pulling forward. In footage captured by his body camera, Senatobia police officer Sgt. Hunter Foster moved directly in front of the forward-moving vehicle with his gun drawn, shouting commands for the driver to stop. As the car passed closely, Foster discharged his firearm four times, shattering the front passenger-side window where the infant was seated. The car continued to drive away through the car park. An independent autopsy commissioned by the family and statements from civil rights attorney Ben Crump asserted that the fatal shot was fired from the side of the vehicle rather than directly from the front, challenging the assertion that the officer faced an immediate threat to his life at the moment of discharge.

The Mississippi Attorney General’s office announced that a monthslong probe determined Foster’s use of force was justified. Martin Zummach, the attorney representing Foster, defended the officer's actions in statements to the BBC, asserting that the driver was attempting to harm law enforcement and that firing additional shots was a matter of rapid muscle memory. Meanwhile, Senatobia Mayor Greg Graves confirmed that Foster has since resigned from the police department.

The infant's family expressed deep frustration regarding how the investigation's conclusions were handled. Relatives stated they learned the officer was cleared through news reports and online leaks rather than direct notification from state officials, calling the leak a slap in the face. Vellesiya Wiley has consistently denied that she and her companion were shoplifting diapers, and state and county court records confirm that no criminal charges have been filed against the women. Ben Crump criticized the initial police response as excessive from the very start, emphasizing that an allegation of retail theft should never cost a child's life.

As protests and vigils continue to demand accountability in Mississippi, the family's legal representation has formally requested federal intervention to examine the circumstances surrounding the toddler's death. Further developments depend on potential federal inquiries into the Senatobia Police Department's tactics and whether civil litigation will proceed in the wake of the state's decision not to bring criminal charges against the officer.

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