Mississippi will not bring criminal charges against the police officer who fatally shot 1-year-old Kohen Wiley, the state's attorney general announced on Monday, October 19. Attorney General Lynn Fitch's office said it had completed its review of the June 14 shooting and found the Senatobia police officer's use of force was justified — closing the state's criminal case after a shooting that drew national attention and weeks of protests.
"Today, the Office of the Attorney General announced it has completed the review of a June 14, 2026 incident in Senatobia involving one officer with the Senatobia Police Department," the agency said in a statement. "In this incident, the Attorney General's Office found the use of force was justified." The review followed an investigation by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation.
What happened outside the Senatobia Walmart
On June 14, officers responded to a reported shoplifting incident at a Walmart in Senatobia, a north Mississippi city about 40 miles south of Memphis. Investigators say two adults and the child left the store, got into a car, and attempted to drive away. As officers tried to stop the vehicle, the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation said the driver moved toward the officers, nearly striking one — and one officer fired into the car.
Authorities have said the shoplifting call involved the alleged theft of diapers and baby clothing. Neither woman has been charged with a crime, and officials have released no evidence establishing the alleged theft, according to the Mississippi Free Press.
Two accounts of the shooting
The attorney general's office did not name the officer in its announcement, but Mississippi Bureau of Investigation records identified him as Senatobia Police Sgt. Hunter Foster, according to the family's attorneys. Foster was placed on administrative leave after the shooting; it was unclear on October 19 whether he remained employed.
The family disputes the official account. In a video shared days after the shooting, Vellesiya Wiley denied that she or the driver stole anything and said the driver was leaving, not driving toward the officers. She said she lifted her son so officers could see a child was in the vehicle, and shots were fired moments later. "By the time I sat my baby down, it was like three to four shots," she said. "One of the shots hit him in his rib cage."
An independent autopsy, whose preliminary findings the family's attorneys released on July 1, concluded the fatal bullet entered the right side of Kohen's chest and exited the left — findings the family's lawyers argued were inconsistent with officers firing at a vehicle coming straight toward them. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents the family, has also pointed to photographs showing damage to the car's passenger side and a bullet hole in the windshield.
Backlash over the no-charges decision
The shooting drew several demonstrations in Senatobia, where community members and civil rights advocates demanded accountability. After Monday's announcement, Crump renewed demands for authorities to release body-camera, dash-camera, and Walmart surveillance footage. "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," Crump said. "How can anyone accept that conclusion when Kohen's family and the public still have not been allowed to see the body-camera footage?"
Crump also cited broader concerns about the department. The Senatobia Board of Aldermen unanimously fired former Police Chief Harold "Hal" Vanderford in September after reporting revealed he repeatedly used racial slurs about Black people in private messages. Foster faced an internal complaint alleging he made a racially offensive remark to a Black coworker days before the shooting, according to Mississippi Today.
The criminal case is closed — but for Kohen Wiley's family, the push for the video evidence, and for answers, goes on.
Watch: WLBT's breaking news report, "Force in deadly officer-involved shooting of 1-year-old Kohen Wiley ruled justified" — the Mississippi local station's coverage of the attorney general's announcement.
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