Mississippi Attorney General Clears Officer in Fatal Shooting of 1-Year-Old
Mississippi AG Lynn Fitch rules the fatal police shooting of 1-year-old Kohen Wiley in Senatobia as justified, following a months-long state investigation.
POLICY WIRE — Senatobia, Mississippi — Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch declared on Monday that the fatal shooting of a 1-year-old boy by a local police officer was a justified use of force. The determination comes four months after the death of Kohen Wiley, who was killed when an officer opened fire on a vehicle departing a Walmart parking lot in Senatobia.
The Attorney General’s office released a brief statement confirming the conclusion of its review regarding the June 14, 2026, incident involving a member of the Senatobia Police Department. The investigation, which was conducted by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, found that the officer’s actions met the legal threshold for justified force.
According to the initial report from the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, officers arrived at the scene to find two individuals and a child fleeing the store toward a vehicle. Authorities claimed that as officers attempted to intervene, the driver maneuvered the car toward them, nearly striking an officer, which prompted the gunfire. The vehicle subsequently fled to a local hospital, where the child was pronounced dead and another occupant was treated for critical injuries.
Vellesiya Wiley, the mother of the child, has consistently challenged the official narrative. In a video shared by her attorney, Ben Crump, she stated that she and her friend had visited the store to purchase diapers. She maintained that she attempted to alert officers to the presence of her child in the vehicle as they were backing out, and she denied that the driver intentionally targeted law enforcement.
The family’s legal team, including Crump and Van Turner, previously released a preliminary autopsy report in July. They argued that the findings, which suggest the fatal bullet passed through the side of the vehicle, raise significant questions regarding the necessity of the shooting. The family has held ongoing protests in the town, located 40 miles south of Memphis, Tennessee, to demand accountability.
Reporting by Policy-Wire (PW)
