Mississippi Attorney General Finds Officer’s Use of Force Justified in Shooting That Killed 1-Year-Old

The Mississippi Attorney General’s Office said Monday that a Senatobia police officer’s use of force was justified in the June 14 shooting that killed 1-year-old Kohen Wiley and wounded another person in a Walmart parking lot.

The finding followed an investigation by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation. Officers had responded to a reported shoplifting incident involving Kohen’s mother, Vellesiya Wiley, and Latoya Ferrell. The women left the store with the child, entered a vehicle and began to drive away as officers attempted to stop them.

State investigators said shortly after the shooting that the vehicle drove toward officers and nearly struck one, prompting an officer to fire into it. Kohen was fatally struck while in his mother’s lap, and Ferrell was wounded.

Wiley has denied that she or Ferrell stole merchandise and disputed the state’s account that the vehicle headed toward officers. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents Kohen’s family, has said a preliminary independent autopsy indicated the child was shot from the side of the vehicle rather than the front.

Neither woman has been charged, according to the Mississippi Free Press. The outlet also reported that authorities had not publicly released body-camera or Walmart surveillance footage, though the Mississippi Department of Public Safety said video would be provided to news organizations through public-records requests.