Mississippi’s attorney general has determined that the officer who fired into a vehicle, killing a 1-year-old boy, acted lawfully and was justified in using force.
The decision concerns a June shooting in which a Mississippi police officer opened fire on a car and fatally wounded a 1-year-old child.
In a statement issued Monday, Oct. 19, the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office said officers with the Senatobia Police Department were justified in shooting at the vehicle as it attempted to leave a Walmart parking lot following an alleged shoplifting incident.
Senatobia police were called to the Walmart on June 14, 2026, after receiving a report of shoplifting. According to authorities, officers encountered two adults and a child in the parking lot before the group entered a vehicle and tried to drive away.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation said police reported that the driver moved the vehicle toward the officers, prompting one officer to fire into the car.
The vehicle drove away and soon reached a nearby hospital. The 1-year-old child, identified as Kohen Wiley, was pronounced dead there. Another individual was injured in the shooting.
The attorney general’s office issued the following statement:
“The Office of the Attorney General announced today that it has concluded its review of a June 14, 2026 incident in Senatobia involving an officer with the Senatobia Police Department. The Attorney General’s Office determined that the use of force was justified. In accordance with Section 45-1-6 of the Mississippi Code, the review was conducted after an investigation by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation.”
Civil rights lawyer Ben Crump criticized the ruling and called on officials to make the body-camera video from the shooting public.
“A 1-year-old baby was shot and killed by a police officer, and now the state of Mississippi says that use of force was justified. How can anyone accept that conclusion when Kohen’s family and the public still have not been allowed to see the body-camera footage? This is a department whose chief was fired after reports of racial slurs in his text messages, and whose officer faced a complaint alleging a racially offensive remark two days before he shot Kohen. If the footage supports the state’s decision, release it. We will not stop fighting until this family gets the truth,” Crump said.
