Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch has determined that a Senatobia police officer's use of force was justified in the shooting death of 1-year-old Kohen Wiley. The conclusion follows an investigation into the June incident, which occurred during a response to a shoplifting call.
The shooting took place at a local Walmart when officers attempted to stop a vehicle driven by Vellesiya Wiley, Kohen's mother. Police reports indicate that officers observed Wiley and a friend, both Black, leaving the store with alleged stolen items and entering a car. According to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, officers attempted to halt the vehicle, but it allegedly drove toward law enforcement, prompting an officer to fire into the car, striking Kohen and Wiley's friend.
Vellesiya Wiley has disputed the police account, stating that she and her friend did not steal anything and that the car was not driven toward the officers. Attorneys representing Kohen's family have cited results from a preliminary independent autopsy, suggesting Kohen was shot from the side of the car, a detail that contradicts the officers' statements that the car was moving toward them.
The incident has occurred amid existing tensions between the Senatobia police department and the city's Black community. This follows other recent events, including an incident last year where a Senatobia officer threatened a Black woman with a Taser during a confrontation over a handicapped parking space at the same Walmart. Additionally, two years prior, a police officer was terminated for arresting a 10-year-old boy for public urination. In a separate matter, former Senatobia Police Chief Harold Vanderford was fired after allegations surfaced of his use of racist slurs in private text messages.