Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch says the fatal police shooting of 1-year-old Kohen Wiley was justified—even though authorities have yet to release body-camera footage or Walmart surveillance video showing what happened. The baby was sitting in his mother’s lap in a car in a Senatobia Walmart parking lot on June 14 when an officer opened fire, killing him and wounding another woman in the vehicle.
Fitch’s office announced Monday that it had completed its review of the shooting and concluded that the officer’s use of force was justified. The review followed an investigation by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation.
According to the Mississippi Free Press, The shooting happened after officers responded to a shoplifting call alleging that Wiley’s mother, Vellesiya Wiley, and another woman, Latoya Ferrell, had stolen a pack of diapers. The women left the store with Kohen, got into their vehicle and began pulling out of the parking lot as officers arrived.
Witnesses said officers drew their weapons, and Vellesiya Wiley lifted her son to show them that a baby was in the car. An officer then fired into the vehicle, killing Kohen as his mother held him. Ferrell was also struck by a bullet and wounded.
On the day of the shooting, the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation alleged that “the driver drove in the direction of the officers, almost striking one.” But the public still has not seen the video evidence that could help clarify what happened in those critical moments.
As of Monday, the Mississippi Department of Public Safety had released neither the officer’s body-camera footage nor the overhead surveillance video from the Walmart parking lot. A brief bystander video circulated online shortly after the shooting, but it did not show the gunfire or clearly establish whether the vehicle drove toward officers.
There is another troubling detail: neither woman has been charged with a crime, and officials have not publicly released evidence establishing that a theft occurred. Kohen and the two women are Black. The officer identified as the subject of the investigation, Hunter Foster, is white.
A Department of Public Safety spokesperson told the Mississippi Free Press that surveillance footage would soon be provided to media organizations responding to public-records requests. The newspaper has filed its own request for the available footage.
For Marquell Bridges, a Mississippi activist and president of the Building Bridges Coalition, Fitch’s announcement was no resolution.
“There is blood on your hands. Not just Hunter Foster, but everyone that is complicit in the cover-up, including Attorney General Lynn Fitch, and everything that happens as a result,” Bridges told the Mississippi Free Press on Monday.
The shooting also comes amid questions about Foster’s record. In July, Mississippi Today reported on internal complaints alleging that Foster had made a racially offensive remark to a coworker just days before Kohen was killed. Two earlier cases involving accusations of police misconduct by Foster also came to light after the shooting. One case was dismissed; the other ended in a confidential settlement.
And Senatobia’s police department was already under scrutiny. Last month, the city fired its white police chief, Harold Vanderford, after reporting by The New York Times, Mississippi Today and Verite revealed racist text messages in which he repeatedly used racial slurs.
Fitch’s decision may close her office’s review, but key questions remain unanswered for the public. The video evidence has yet to be released, and the state’s conclusion that the shooting was justified has now been announced before the public has had a chance to examine that footage for itself.
