The Mississippi Attorney General’s Office has ruled that the fatal police shooting of one-year-old Kohen Wiley by a Senatobia officer in June 2026 was justified, concluding a four-month review of an incident that drew local protests, conflicting accounts, and an independent autopsy dispute.
The review concluded on Monday, marking a definitive state finding in an encounter that began during a retail stop in northern Mississippi. Attorney General Lynn Fitch’s office released a brief statement announcing that the investigation into the June 14, 2026, shooting involving an officer with the Senatobia Police Department had found the use of force justified. The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation conducted the inquiry, forwarding its findings to the attorney general’s office in September following a review under Section 45-1-6.
The Walmart Parking Lot Incident
The events leading to the toddler’s death unfolded outside a Walmart on U.S. 51 in Senatobia, a city of about 8,000 residents located about 40 miles south of Memphis, Tennessee. Responding officers arrived at the location after a shoplifting call involving a pack of diapers and baby clothes. According to reports from the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, two adults — identified as Vellesiya Wiley and a friend named Latoya Ferrell — and a juvenile child left the store and entered a vehicle.
Police attempted to stop the automobile as it began to leave the parking lot. An officer then discharged a weapon into the vehicle, and the car fled the scene.
The vehicle drove to a local hospital. Vellesiya Wiley, who was a passenger in the car holding her son, was not charged with any crime. Neither woman has been charged with a crime, and officials have not released any evidence of shoplifting.
Disputed Accounts and Independent Findings
The official police account of the vehicle moving toward officers has been sharply disputed by the family and their legal representation. Vellesiya Wiley maintained that her friend was driving away from officers rather than toward them. She explained that her friend had been briefly stopped while they were leaving the store and that she kept walking because it had nothing to do with her, adding that by the time she and her baby got in the car, her friend came.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump and co-counsel Van Turner released an independent autopsy report that challenged the state’s narrative. The findings indicated that the fatal bullet entered the vehicle from the side rather than the front, throwing into question the authorities’ claim that the car was driving toward law enforcement.
Vellesiya Wiley shares her account of the events that led to the tragic death of her 1-year-old son, Kohen Wiley, during a police encounter in Senatobia, Mississippi. The officer who fatally shot Kohen has been placed on administrative leave, but for Kohen’s family, leave is not… pic.twitter.com/f8EK4WTCL7
His mother, who has not been charged with any crime, says she was trying to communicate to officers that there was a baby in the car.
Officer Placed on Leave Amid Protests
Local media records identified the officer who fired the shot as Sgt. Hunter Foster, who was white, while both Wileys and Ferrell are Black. Sgt. Hunter Foster was placed on leave on June 16, though his employment status remained unclear following the announcement. The Attorney General’s Office did not name the officer in its public statement, nor did it release additional details regarding the evidence reviewed during its determination.
The decision to clear the officer arrived amid months of community protests and scrutiny directed at the Senatobia Police Department, a town where the population is about 40% Black. The city’s police force has faced leadership turnover and civil rights controversies, including the September firing of a police chief over the use of racial slurs, and a 2023 national news incident involving the arrest of a 10-year-old Black boy who had urinated in public.
Family advocates and legal representatives continue to demand the public release of body camera footage from the afternoon of the shooting, arguing that transparency is necessary for public trust.
Advocates maintain that withholding the recordings will only prolong the public scrutiny and community mistrust regarding the department's handling of the fatal incident.
