A one-year-old boy named Kohen Wiley died after a Mississippi police officer opened fire near a Walmart, and the state’s top prosecutor now says that officer broke no laws.
Quick Take
- Mississippi’s Attorney General ruled on October 19 that the officer’s use of force was justified in the June 14 shooting death of 1-year-old Kohen Wiley.
- Senatobia police had responded to a Walmart call about alleged diaper theft when the shooting happened.
- Civil-rights attorney Ben Crump says a preliminary independent autopsy shows Kohen was shot from the side, not the front, challenging the officer’s account.
- Body-camera and surveillance footage have still not been released to the public, fueling demands from the family and local activists.
What Happened Outside The Senatobia Walmart
The shooting happened on June 14 after Senatobia police responded to a Walmart report of alleged diaper theft. Officers say they saw Vellesiya Wiley carrying her son Kohen as she and a family friend left the store, got into a vehicle, and started to drive away. One officer fired during that encounter. Kohen, just one year old, was killed.
The case drew national attention almost immediately. A child’s death during a routine shoplifting call is the kind of story that cuts through the news cycle, and it did. Protesters gathered at Senatobia’s City Hall and outside the Walmart within days, demanding answers before the state had even finished its review.
The Attorney General’s Official Ruling
Mississippi’s Attorney General’s Office announced on October 19 that it had completed its review and concluded the officer’s use of force was justified. The office said its finding followed a formal investigation by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, conducted under the state’s statutory review process for officer-involved shootings.
The public statement laid out a conclusion, not a full case file. No trajectory analysis, witness transcripts, or detailed legal memorandum accompanied the announcement. The Mississippi Department of Public Safety has not released officer body-camera footage or Walmart surveillance video, leaving the public to take the state’s word on exactly what the officer saw and why deadly force seemed necessary.
Why The Family’s Lawyer Is Pushing Back
Attorney Ben Crump, representing Kohen’s family, says a preliminary independent autopsy tells a different story. He claims the results show Kohen was shot from the side of the vehicle, not the front, directly contradicting officers’ account that the car was heading toward them when the shot was fired.
Crump has repeatedly called on the state to release the body-camera footage, arguing the public cannot simply accept a conclusion it cannot see for itself. A bystander cellphone video that surfaced after the shooting shows the vehicle driving away from officers, but it does not capture the moment shots were fired, leaving the central question still unresolved on camera.
Anger Simmers In Senatobia
Local activist Patrick Lumumba described the community’s reaction as a “righteous indignation” that would not be satisfied by the state’s ruling alone, reflecting a broader sense in Senatobia that the case deserves more scrutiny than a one-paragraph statement can provide.
Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch's office announced Monday it had completed its review of the shooting that killed one-year-old Kohen Wiley, and that the "use of force was justified," meaning the state will not bring criminal charges in the case.
Kohen's family and local… pic.twitter.com/fYz3h5YPqe
— BreakThrough News (@BTnewsroom) October 20, 2026
That frustration is understandable. Losing a one-year-old to police gunfire, under any circumstances, demands a transparent accounting, not just a verdict announced from Jackson. Conservatives who back law enforcement should also back the principle that trust is earned through disclosure, especially when a child is the one who died.
The Legal Standard Courts Actually Use
Federal law has long drawn a sharp line on this exact scenario. In Tennessee v. Garner, the Supreme Court ruled that deadly force against a fleeing suspect is only lawful if that person poses an immediate threat to officers or others, not simply because they are trying to get away.
That standard is exactly why the vehicle’s movement matters so much here. If the car was pulling away with no real danger to officers, the shooting falls outside what Garner allows. If the car was being driven at officers, the calculus changes entirely. Without the footage, the public has no way to check which version matches the ground truth.
What Still Needs To Happen
Mississippi’s Attorney General has made a call, and officials are entitled to a presumption of good faith absent proof otherwise. But good faith and full transparency are not the same thing. Releasing the body-camera video, the surveillance footage, and the underlying investigative file would let the public judge the justification claim on the actual evidence, not just a press release.
Until that happens, this case will stay exactly where it is now: an official ruling on one side, a grieving family’s competing forensic claim on the other, and a Mississippi town demanding to see for itself. A dead toddler and an unreleased video are a combination no explanation can fully quiet.
Sources:
cbsnews.com, newsday.com, wreg.com, fox13memphis.com, cnn.com
