The Mississippi police officer who fired the fatal shot that killed one-year-old Kohen Wiley in a Walmart parking lot in June has resigned, Senatobia Mayor Greg Graves confirmed. The board of aldermen accepted the officer's resignation on Wednesday, October 21st. The mayor declined to comment on whether the officer was asked to resign or resigned voluntarily. The Senatobia Police Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Police body camera footage of the June 14 incident was released Thursday by investigators. This follows the Mississippi Attorney General's Office's announcement on Monday that its investigation found the use of force by the Senatobia Police Department to be "justified," and that no charges would be filed in the case.
The officer, identified by local media as Hunter Foster, had been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation (MBI). Foster's attorney, Martin Zummach, told The Associated Press that his client "had no choice" but to fire his weapon, as the fleeing vehicle was driving towards him.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, representing Kohen's family, called the officer's actions "excessive" during a press conference Thursday. Crump argued that the driver was attempting to flee, not strike officers, and that police could have pursued other methods to investigate the alleged shoplifting. "It doesn't warrant the death penalty. It certainly doesn't warrant the death of 1-year-old baby Kohen," Crump stated, noting that the alleged offense was shoplifting diapers, a misdemeanor.
Crump also announced that the family is calling for a federal investigation into the incident.
The MBI released body camera footage and surveillance videos from the Walmart on Thursday. Footage reviewed by ABC News shows the officer firing multiple shots at the vehicle as it appeared to drive towards police officers who had their guns drawn.
Kohen's maternal grandmother, Veronica Roberson, expressed her disgust after viewing the footage, stating, "I feel like we have been done wrong." She questioned the officer's immediate, armed response upon exiting the store.
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves defended the investigation and law enforcement on Wednesday. While he had not viewed the body camera video himself, he expressed "trust" in the MBI and the state attorney general's office. Reeves stated that investigators found "it was very clear" that "the driver of the vehicle attempted to run over the policeman."
Senatobia's interim police chief, Angelica Maze, who has since resigned from her position as chief, had previously thanked the public for their patience during the investigation. Maze was not the chief at the time of Wiley's shooting. She has returned to her previous role, and LaMorris Hampton will serve as the new interim police chief. The reasons and timing of Maze's resignation were unclear, and she did not respond to requests for comment.