—Barrington Williams, B1Daily

Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch has apparently decided that the police shooting that killed a one-year-old Black child was justified. Not a dangerous armed suspect. Not someone accused of committing a violent felony. A baby named Kohen Wiley, whose life ended in a Walmart parking lot in Senatobia, Mississippi.

On October 19, 2026, Fitch’s office announced that the officer’s use of deadly force was justified following an investigation by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation. The announcement offered little public explanation of how investigators reached that conclusion.

Apparently, Mississippi believes the public should accept the killing of a toddler on the government’s word alone.

A Baby Is Dead Over an Alleged Shoplifting Incident

On June 14, Senatobia police responded to a reported shoplifting incident involving diapers and baby clothing. Officers encountered a vehicle occupied by Kohen, his mother, Vellesiya Wiley, and another woman who was driving.

Authorities claim the vehicle moved toward officers, nearly striking one, before an officer opened fire. Kohen was fatally wounded, and the driver was seriously injured.

Kohen’s mother disputes that account. She has maintained that the vehicle was not being driven toward officers and that she attempted to show police her baby was inside.

Neither woman has been charged in connection with the alleged shoplifting.

Let that sink in. A response to suspected shoplifting ended with a dead infant, a wounded woman, and an attorney general announcing that the officer’s actions were legally justified.

Where Is the Body-Camera Footage?

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, representing Kohen’s family, has demanded the release of body-camera footage and other evidence.

An independent preliminary autopsy commissioned by the family reportedly indicated that Kohen was struck by gunfire coming from the side of the vehicle. That finding raises serious questions about whether the officer who fired was directly in the vehicle’s path.

It does not, by itself, conclusively establish every officer’s position or the precise sequence of events. That is exactly why the video evidence matters.

If the shooting was justified, Mississippi officials should explain the evidence supporting that conclusion. The public deserves more than a brief declaration from the same state government responsible for reviewing police conduct.

Transparency should not become optional simply because the person who pulled the trigger wore a badge.

Senatobia’s Troubling History Makes This Even Worse

The controversy is unfolding against a disturbing backdrop of allegations involving Senatobia law enforcement.

The officer identified in reporting as Sgt. Hunter Foster was previously named in litigation involving a separate police encounter in which an account of a vehicle nearly striking officers was disputed. That earlier lawsuit was settled, and the allegations do not establish that Foster committed misconduct in Kohen’s shooting.

Meanwhile, Senatobia’s former police chief, Harold Vanderford, was fired following reporting about racist language allegedly used in private messages.

These controversies do not automatically prove that the shooting was racially motivated. They do, however, provide ample reason for the public to demand a thorough, transparent review rather than unquestioning acceptance of the state’s conclusion.

Mississippi Owes This Family More Than a Press Release

Police officers can face legitimate threats from vehicles, and deadly force may be legally justified in narrowly defined circumstances. But that determination should rest on the immediate danger, the officer’s actions, and the available evidence, not merely an assertion that a vehicle was moving toward police.

Mississippi should release the relevant footage, explain the investigative findings, and allow independent scrutiny of the decision. Federal civil rights authorities should also consider whether the available evidence warrants a separate review.

A criminal clearance does not erase the death of Kohen Wiley. It does not answer every question about the shooting, and it certainly does not absolve public officials of their responsibility to explain what happened.

A one-year-old child is dead, and Mississippi’s answer is that the shooting was justified. Until the evidence is made public and the decision can be independently scrutinized, that answer is nowhere near good enough.

—Barrington Williams, B1Daily