State authorities in Mississippi have announced that no criminal charges will be filed against a police officer involved in the fatal shooting of a 1-year-old boy outside a Senatobia Walmart earlier this year. Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch confirmed that her office concluded its review of the June 14 incident involving a member of the Senatobia Police Department and determined the use of force was legally justified.
The decision follows the public release of body camera and surveillance footage capturing the events leading up to the death of 1-year-old Kohen Wiley. The video shows five law enforcement officers rushing out of the retail store after receiving reports that a suspect was attempting to flee in a silver sedan. Officers surrounded the vehicle, shouting commands for the driver to stop.
According to the footage, the vehicle moved forward and nearly struck one of the responding officers. Immediately following that movement, one officer discharged his firearm into the car, striking the child. Young Kohen Wiley was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The vehicle was driven by a friend of the child’s mother, with Vellesiya Wiley holding her son in her lap in the passenger area. Attorney Ben Crump, representing the family, stated that both women strongly rejected allegations of shoplifting. Neither woman has been charged with any crime in connection with the incident.
Speaking at a press conference shortly after the tragedy, Vellesiya Wiley recounted the fatal moments, stating she attempted to lift her child up to show the officers that a baby was inside the vehicle in an effort to prevent the shooting.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation conducted an inquiry into the shooting and forwarded its findings to the Attorney General’s Office for review. Following the announcement that the officer would not face charges, Mayor Greg Graves acknowledged the profound grief felt throughout the community. In a statement released after the event, Graves emphasized the local administration’s commitment to transparency throughout the investigative process.
Legal representatives for the family previously criticized the lack of immediate public access to the footage prior to the attorney general’s decision. Crump questioned how the public could accept the justification of force without full transparency, noting that the Senatobia police chief was also dismissed from his position following allegations of using racial slurs. The Mississippi Department of Public Safety subsequently indicated that official footage would be released following a private viewing by the family.
The investigation and subsequent findings leave unresolved tensions between official determinations of justifiable force and the demands for accountability from the victim’s family and legal counsel.
