Police ‘justified’ in use of force after shooting and killing a one-year-old boy

This undated photo provided by Veronica Roberson in June 2026 shows her granddaughter, Kohen Wiley, of Senatobia, Miss. (Veronica Roberson via AP)

US investigators have found that a police officer who opened fire on a woman and her baby was ‘justified’ in his use of force.

Kohen Kartier Wiley, one, was fatally shot by a Mississippi police officer who was responding to an alleged shoplifting incident at a Walmart branch this summer.

Officers from the Senatobia Police Department said the boy’s mum and aunt had been driving ‘in the direction of officers’ before they opened fire.

Vellesiya Wiley, Kohen’s mother, said she lifted her child to show the officers he was with her before they opened fire.

Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch wrote: ‘In this incident, the Attorney General’s Office found the use of force was justified.’

MEMPHIS, Tenn. ? The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is investigating an officer-involved shooting involving the Senatobia Police Department and Tate County Sheriff?s Office that left a child dead and another person critically injured. According to MBI, law enforcement officers responded Sunday afternoon to a shoplifting call at the Walmart on U.S. 51 in Senatobia. Investigators said officers encountered two adults and a juvenile child who were seen fleeing the store and getting into a vehicle. 2 children found dead, mother critically injured in Obion County, TBI investigating Authorities said officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver drove in the direction of officers and nearly struck one of them. An officer then fired their weapon, according to MBI, and the vehicle fled the scene. Senatobia police say the shooting happened just after 2 p.m. The vehicle later arrived at a local hospital, where one young child who was inside the vehicle was pronounced dead. Another person in the vehicle suffered critical injuries. Family members of the people shot, told WREG that the aunt of the child was taken to Regional One in critical condition. They also say the child shot and killed was just one year old. ?We don?t really know anything, why it happened or whatever,? said relative Carolyn Stokes. ?All we know is that car was shot up and a one-year-old baby was killed.? Family said Kohen Wiley was the young victim. ?It?s just not right?: Family of 1-year-old killed in officer-involved shooting demands answers Family say the aunt was driving the car and the mother was in the front passenger seat holding her child when the shooting happened. Car surrounded with crime scene tape at hospital (WREG?s Lisa Dandridge) Shooting scene at Walmart parking lot (WREG?s Lisa Dandridge) MBI officials at Senatobia hospital (WREG?s Lisa Dandridge) Car surrounded with crime scene tape at hospital (WREG?s Lisa Dandridge) Shooting scene at Walmart parking lot (WREG?s Lisa Dandridge) Shooting scene at Walmart parking lot (WREG?s Lisa Dandridge) No law enforcement officers suffered serious physical injuries during the incident. The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is continuing to gather evidence and assess the circumstances surrounding the shooting. Once the investigation is complete, findings will be turned over to the Mississippi Attorney General?s Office for review. 19-year-old charged with murder in fatal Horn Lake shooting MBI noted that the information released so far is preliminary and subject to change. Senatobia police says the area is safe, but is closed as MBI investigates. They are advising the public to avoid this area while the scene is being processed by investigators. The department also said they are ?committed to full transparency. As the investigation progresses and facts are verified, we will share as much information as possible.? WREG has a crew on the scene at the hospital where MBI investigators are seen working. There is also a car with crime scene tape around it, that appears to have been damaged.

The Wiley family’s lawyer has urged the state to release body camera footage from the incident.

Benjamin 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?

‘If the footage supports the state’s decision, release it. We will not stop fighting until this family gets the truth.’

Martin Zummach, representing the police officer who fired his gun, said that the driver had ‘tried to kill’ his client, leaving him with no choice but to fire the weapon.

Carolyn Stokes, baby Kohen’s great-grandmother, previously told WREG: ‘Senatobia Police Department get away with too much stuff.

‘I hear about it all the time, it’s in the news all the time […] it’s just too much.’

Last year, local media reported that a woman was tasered and tackled after police officers saw her ‘illegally park in a handicapped spot’. The woman said she was dropping off her grandmother.

The Senatobia Police Department released a statement after the deadly shooting, reading: ‘We are committed to full transparency.

‘As the investigation progresses and facts are verified, we will share as much information as possible.”

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

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Original source Police ‘justified’ in use of force after shooting and killing a one-year-old boy

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