Mississippi Attorney General rules fatal police of Senatobia 1-year-old “justified” – National & International News
Mississippi Attorney General rules fatal police of Senatobia 1-year-old “justified”
Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch says her office has found that a Senatobia police officer “was justified” in shooting into a car in a Walmart parking lot, killing a 1-year-old baby named Kohen Wiley.
The incident occurred on June 14 when police were answering a shoplifting call at the Senatobia Walmart. Officers approached car in the parking lot where Vellesiya Wiley was sitting in the front seat with her son Kohen on her lap while her friend Latoya Ferrell was behind the wheel. Wiley lifted her son to show there was a baby in the car. It was at that point that one of the officers shot into the car, killing Kohen and injuring Ferrell. The Wileys and Ferrell are Black. Hunter Foster (believed to be the officer in question) is white.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation claims that Ferrell drove the car “in the direction of the officers, almost striking one,” which was their basis for calling the shooting justified.
Officers alleged at the time that Vellesiya Wiley and Ferrell had stolen a pack of diapers from the Walmart. Neither woman has been charged with a crime and the state has produced no shoplifting evidence against them. Ferrell has also not been charged with any allegation that she attempted to use the vehicle as a weapon against the officers, as the state alleges.
Footage still not released
Neither Kohen’s family nor the public has ever seen any of the footage from the incident, including Walmart security footage or bodycam footage from the officers. At the start of their investigation into the incident, Department of Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindel said the footage will not be released until the state’s investigation was complete. As of now, that footage still as not been released.
Rather than a proactive release, the DPS will only be releasing the footage through public records requests. Several news organizations have already submitted requests, but there is no clear timeline for when the footage will be available.
After the shooting, it was reported that Hunter Foster had two complaints against him from fellow officers for racial remarks directed at Black people. Investigations by news organizations also found that Senatobia Police Chief Harold Vanderford regularly used racial slurs directed at Black people in his text messages.
After these reports, Vanderford was fired. Foster was placed on administrative leave after the shooting, but it is not clear if he will return to the force now that the Mississippi AG’s investigation is concluded.
