A 1-year-old boy, Kohen Wiley, died after police opened fire outside a Walmart in Senatobia, Mississippi, during an investigation into a reported shoplifting incident. Police allege the driver nearly struck officers; the boy’s mother denies it and says she was
When officers arrived at a Walmart in Senatobia, Mississippi, around 2 p.m. on June 14 for a report of shoplifting, the day quickly turned into a fatal confrontation outside a parked car. By the time the subjects reached a local hospital. 1-year-old Kohen Wiley was pronounced dead. and another person had critical injuries.
Kohen Wiley’s family says the shooting was unjustifiable. The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is investigating the incident.
Senatobia Police said the officers were responding to the shoplifting call when they encountered “two subjects and a juvenile child fleeing from the store into a vehicle.” Officers then attempted to stop the vehicle. and police allege the driver drove in the direction of officers and almost struck them. One officer discharged a weapon, and the vehicle fled the scene.
Officials said no law enforcement officers were injured. The subjects arrived at a local hospital, where Wiley was pronounced dead and the other injured person received treatment.
Attorney Ben Crump. who represents Wiley’s family. said in a statement that Wiley was sitting in his mother’s car when police allegedly opened fire. Crump also said investigators alleged the car was moving toward the officers and almost struck them. Crump said Wiley’s mother has not been charged with a crime.
Crump’s statement also addressed the mother’s actions before the shooting. He said she was trying to notify officers that the child was in the car prior to the shooting.
“They fired anyway, leading to the death of an innocent 1-year-old,” Crump said. “We intend to seek justice for baby Kohen and the life that was stolen from him.”
The Mississippi Department of Public Safety, in a release, said that besides Wiley’s death, another individual had “critical injuries.”
The mother’s account sharply disputes the police version of events. In a video shared by Crump’s office, Wiley’s mother, Vellesiya Wiley, described what she said was happening before the shots.
She said the incident began when she, her son, and a friend were leaving Walmart. She said officers stopped her friend. then she and her son continued walking to their car because she believed they were not involved. When the friend returned to the car. she said they began backing out as officers approached and allegedly drew their guns.
“I raised my baby up trying to show them that he was in the car,” Wiley said.
She said that after she put her child down to position him, “it was like three to four shots.” She said one shot hit her son “in his rib cage,” and other shots hit her “in her arm and her thigh.”
Wiley also denied that the driver drove toward officers. She said officers were allegedly on the right side while “she was driving towards the left.”
On the question of what prompted the call, Wiley responded to reports that the alleged shoplifting involved diapers. She said her friend was buying diapers and that the purchase was likely captured on self-checkout cameras. She said she was trying to refute claims that she forcefully tried to drive and hit officers.
“They tried to say that she forcefully was trying to drive and hit them,” Wiley said. “But added that the officers were allegedly on the right side and ‘she was driving towards the left.’”
As the investigation continues, local officials moved quickly on the police response. On June 16, Senatobia’s mayor and board of aldermen voted to place the officer involved in the shooting on administrative leave, city officials said. The officer has not been publicly identified.
That same day, protests erupted in Senatobia, about 40 miles south of Memphis, Tennessee, following Wiley’s death.
Local reports from WAPT, WREG, and WMC said law enforcement deployed tear gas at protesters on June 16.
The sequence of reported events leaves two conflicting stories side by side: police allege the vehicle nearly struck officers before shots were fired. while Wiley’s account describes her trying to show her child was in the car as the shooting began. With the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation now handling the case. questions about what happened in that moment outside the Walmart—and why—have become the focus in Senatobia.
Kohen Wiley Senatobia Mississippi Walmart shooting police officer administrative leave Ben Crump Mississippi Bureau of Investigation tear gas protests