A Mississippi police officer who shot and killed a one-year-old boy during a confrontation that began with an alleged shoplifting incident has resigned, despite investigators clearing him of criminal wrongdoing.
Hunter Foster, 32, submitted his resignation from the Senatobia Police Department on Friday, officials said. His departure came after authorities examined the June 14 shooting of toddler Kohen Wiley outside a Walmart.
Foster fired at a vehicle in the store’s parking lot after Kohen’s mother, Vellesiya Wiley, and her friend, Latoya Ferrell, were allegedly accused of stealing from Walmart and tried to escape security officers.
Video released this week depicts the tense sequence of events. The two women can be seen running toward their vehicle as officers pursued them, while Ferrell allegedly drove toward officers during the attempted getaway.
As officers surrounded the car and shouted for the driver to stop, the vehicle appeared to move forward. Foster then fired multiple rounds into it, according to the footage and authorities.
Kohen was struck in the torso and died. Ferrell was also hit twice and taken to the hospital in critical condition. Her sister told Our News Outlet on Friday that Ferrell’s recovery had been “touch and go,” adding that she still had a bullet lodged inside her and might need additional surgeries.
The video became public as Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch announced that Foster and the other officers involved would not be prosecuted. Investigators determined the use of deadly force was justified, officials said.
Although Foster learned this week that he would not face charges, he chose to leave the department on Friday and end his law enforcement career, Senatobia Mayor Greg Graves told CNN.
Senatobia officer Hunter Foster, right, has resigned days after authorities cleared him in the fatal June shooting of one-year-old Kohen Wiley
Officials ruled the police shooting that killed one-year-old Kohen Wiley outside a Senatobia, Mississippi, Walmart was justified
Foster declined to discuss his resignation with Our News Outlet on Friday and directed questions to his lawyer, Martin Zummach. In a statement, Zummach said Foster continues to stand by his decision to use his firearm.
“The driver of the vehicle was attempting to kill those five officers, and Hunter Foster had no choice but to discharge his weapon,” Zummach said.
“We are very sad for the loss of life, but the outcome of the investigation was not only expected, but it was overdue.”
In the newly released footage, an unidentified man appears to alert Walmart’s security team after allegedly witnessing the suspected theft. He runs into the security office and shouts, “Two women are running.”
Several officers immediately rushed through the store’s entrance and chased the women across the parking lot toward their car.
Police said the women were suspected of taking diapers. However, neither Wiley nor Ferrell has been charged with shoplifting or any other offense related to the shooting.
The video shows the vehicle seemingly moving toward officers as they closed in around Wiley and Ferrell. Wiley later said she lifted her baby so officers could see him shortly before Foster opened fire.
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The recording also captures the moment Foster was told that a baby had been shot. He responded to fellow officers, “I didn’t even see a baby in her f***ing lap.”
Video shows Kohen Wiley’s mother leaving the Walmart while carrying the infant
Chaotic body-camera footage shows officers rushing from Walmart before confronting Wiley and Ferrell in their vehicle
The footage showed officers surround the vehicle and yell ‘Stop the car!’ moments before it lurched forward, leading Foster to pull the trigger
The infant’s mother Vellesiya Wiley and her friend Latoya Ferrell were allegedly caught shoplifting and attempted to flee from security
While officials said this week that Foster’s decision to shoot was found to be ‘justified,’ the conclusion of the investigation into Kohen’s death did little to calm outrage over the shooting from the boy’s family.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the family, slammed the official report at a press conference on Thursday, branding the shooting ‘excessive from the very start.’
Crump argued the officers should not have drawn their weapons to deal with an alleged shoplifting case.
‘They came out with guns drawn for a shoplifting misdemeanor,’ Crump said.
‘The bullet that killed 1-year-old baby Kohen Wiley was not justified.’
The attorney added: ‘Diapers are something a mother needs for a child. Diapers should never cost a baby their life.
‘This decision sends a message that a Black baby boy, his life is not as valuable as the white diapers that he is wrapped in.’
The infant was fatally shot in the ribcage and was pronounced dead at a local hospital
A bullet hole can be seen in the passenger side of the vehicle
After Foster was identified as the officer involved in the shooting, it emerged that he had been disciplined by the police department for allegedly using a racist remark in front of a co-worker just two days prior.
An eight-year veteran of law enforcement, Foster was previously a deputy with the DeSoto County Sheriff’s Office, where he was named in a lawsuit alleging he and other deputies used ‘unreasonable force’ on a woman during a traffic stop.
That incident allegedly saw deputies knock out the woman’s teeth and break her jaw. Foster’s attorney denied the allegations, and a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit in March, reports Mississippi Today.
