Mississippi’s checkered past with race relations, as represented in this former state flag with a Confederate emblem, may add fuel to the fire surrounding the killing of Kohen Wiley.
A shoplifting allegation.
A police encounter in a Walmart parking lot.
An attempted getaway.
Shots fired into the escaping car.
A 1-year-old succumbs to the gunshots.
Killing ruled justified.
The cop who killed the baby resigns.
This is Mississippi.
This is 2026.
On Oct. 23, Kayla Epstein of the BBC reported, “Mississippi authorities have released body camera footage showing how a toddler was fatally shot by a police officer responding to a report of shoplifting in a Walmart parking lot.
“Kohen Wiley, aged one, was on his mother’s lap in a moving car when officers surrounded the vehicle in the city of Senatobia on 14 June.
“The state’s attorney general found the policeman was justified in using force, and the officer’s lawyer argued in a statement to the BBC that the driver was attempting to kill law enforcement.
“The child’s family disputes that the shooting was justified. Their lawyer, Ben Crump, has called the police response ‘excessive from the very start.’”
Crump added that alleged shoplifting “does not warrant the death” of an infant.
Senatobia, Miss. Mayor Greg Graves confirmed that the officer involved in the fatal shooting has resigned.
However, the Senatobia Police Department has not responded to questions about the officer’s resignation.
Epstein reported, “The footage released by Mississippi authorities on Thursday shows a first-person perspective of the officer who opened fire.
“After being told by a staff member that suspected shoplifters were getting away, five law enforcement officers run towards the car with guns drawn.
“The vehicle reverses, crashing into a parked car, before pulling forward.
“The officer wearing the body camera raises his gun and aims it at the moving vehicle as he runs closer, shouting: ‘Stop!’
“As the car closely passes the officer, he fires his gun, shattering the passenger-side window.
“Four gunshots can be heard, as police command the driver to stop. The car continues to drive off slowly through the car park.”
Martin Zummach, a lawyer representing the officer, said, “The driver of the vehicle was attempting to kill those five officers,” adding that the cop “had no choice but to discharge his weapon.”
Zummach continued, “We are very sad for the loss of life. But the outcome of the investigation was not only expected, but it was overdue.”
On Friday, Oct. 23, additional information was released about the officer who fired the fatal shots.
Courtney Anderson of the ABC affiliate in Memphis, Tenn. reported, “On Friday, October 23, Senatobia Mayor Greg Graves confirmed that officer Hunter Foster fired the shot that killed Kohen. The Board of Aldermen reportedly accepted Foster’s resignation from the Senatobia Police Department on October 21.
“Foster previously worked for the Southaven Police Department and the DeSoto County Sheriff’s Office. Foster worked as a deputy from November 22, 2021, to October 30, 2024.
“Court documents from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi reveal that Foster was previously accused of excessive force and civil rights violations while working at the Southaven Police Department and DeSoto County Sheriff’s Office.
“In a federal lawsuit filed on December 21, 2021, Foster and several other Southaven Police Department officers were accused of violating the civil rights of two men during a December 2019 incident in the parking lot of a Southaven Waffle House.
“The lawsuit claims that the plaintiffs had briefly stopped at Waffle House to wish an acquaintance a happy birthday before leaving. They allegedly returned to the Waffle House around 30 minutes later because one of the plaintiffs had dropped his keys in the parking lot.
“According to the lawsuit, while the plaintiffs were returning to the Waffle House, Foster and other Southaven Police officers were responding to a report of a disturbance.
“The lawsuit alleged when the two plaintiffs arrived and started looking for the keys, one of the officers used his vehicle to box the plaintiffs in and rammed the plaintiffs’ vehicle to stop them from driving.
“The plaintiffs claim that the officers detained, threatened, assaulted, and pointed a gun at them. The plaintiffs claimed to have suffered several injuries as a result of the physical assault, including cuts, abrasions, bleeding, swelling, and bruising.”
Additionally, the plaintiffs claim Foster conspired with their supervisor to “charge the Plaintiffs with various crimes that they did not commit and subjected them to the further insult of incarceration.”
The plaintiffs accuse the police of fabricating false narratives to support the criminal charges.
Furthermore, the plaintiffs accuse the officers of violating their Fourth and 14thAmendment rights by “subjecting them to excessive force, unlawful arrest, unlawful detention, and malicious prosecution.”
According to court documents, the case was settled on May 20, 2022.
Anderson of Memphis, Tenn.’s ABC affiliate reported, “On January 10, 2023, Foster was named in a lawsuit against DeSoto County and several other deputies. The plaintiff claimed that the deputies violated her First, Fourth, and 14thAmendment rights during an incident on August 30, 2022.
“The plaintiff claimed that she was a passenger in a vehicle that deputies pulled over on I-55 and I-69. According to the lawsuit, the deputies arrested the driver and told the plaintiff that she was also under arrest.
“The plaintiff alleged that Foster and other deputies tased her multiple times, pulled her hair, kicked her in the stomach and ribs, broke her jaw, and knocked out several teeth.”
However, that lawsuit was terminated on March 25, 2026.
Despite the killing of Wiley being deemed justified, many in the community still demand more answers and information about his death.
