Mississippi Releases Video of Officer Fatally Shooting 1-Year-Old Kohen Wiley; No Charges

5.8 · 10d ago · US

The Facts

  • Kohen Wiley, a 1-year-old boy, was fatally shot by a Senatobia, Mississippi police officer on June 14, 2026, in a Walmart parking lot during a response to a shoplifting call. ✓3 · CBS News, SCMP, Al Jazeera
  • Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch's office completed its review and found the officer's use of force justified; no charges will be filed. ✓3 · CBS News, SCMP, Al Jazeera
  • Mississippi authorities released body camera footage of the shooting on Thursday. ✓3 · SCMP, Al Jazeera, CBS News
  • Family attorney Ben Crump says Foster was not in danger when he fired and that the video shows the shot was fired from the passenger side of the car; the family disputes the shooting was justified. ✓3 · SCMP, CBS News, Al Jazeera
  • The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation investigated and presented findings to the attorney general; the state's probe lasted about a month. ✓2 · CBS News, SCMP
Dive deeper · 4 more factsShow less
  • Footage shows five officers running out of the Walmart after being told a shoplifter was trying to drive away, surrounding a silver sedan and shouting 'stop the car'; the driver drove forward, nearly hitting an officer, and one officer then fired. CBS News only
  • The officer who fired was identified as Sgt. Hunter Foster of the Senatobia Police Department; his lawyer Martin Zummach said Foster had 'no choice' because the vehicle was going to hit him. SCMP only
  • The driver was a friend of the boy's mother, Vellesiya Wiley, who held Kohen in her lap; through Crump, both deny shoplifting and neither has been charged. CBS News only
  • The Mississippi Department of Public Safety said it would release the video at the end of the week after the family viewed it; Crump noted the Senatobia police chief was recently fired for allegedly using racial slurs. CBS News only

Context

Mississippi authorities released body camera footage of the June 14 police shooting that killed 1-year-old Kohen Wiley outside a Senatobia Walmart. The attorney general's office found the officer's use of force justified and declined to bring charges.

The family, represented by attorney Ben Crump, disputes that conclusion and says the officer was not in danger when he fired. The officer's lawyer says the moving car threatened him.

Conflicting Reports

  • Officer's lawyer Martin Zummach (via SCMP) says Foster had to shoot because the car was going to hit him; Crump (via SCMP) says Foster was not in danger and fired from the passenger side.
  • CBS News reports footage was first posted online by Darkhorse Press and later officially released; SCMP and Al Jazeera say Mississippi released the video Thursday.

How the Agent Panel Scored This

Independent AI personas each scored importance 1–10; the story's score is a trimmed mean (highest and lowest votes dropped). Vote spread: 2.

7 Policy Expert A fatal police shooting of a 1-year-old with a concrete outcome (AG finding of justified force, no charges) and public release of footage is a significant, widely covered event affecting many people, though it is a single local incident rather than a broad policy change.
6 Critical Reader A fatal police shooting of a 1-year-old with a declined prosecution and released footage is a notable, nationally covered event, but the concrete actions (video release, no-charge decision) are moderate-impact outcomes limited to one incident and a local jurisdiction.
6 Informed Citizen A fatal police shooting of a 1-year-old with a no-charges decision and video release is a nationally newsworthy, emotionally significant event with ongoing controversy, but its direct impact on ordinary people is limited.
6 News Editor A fatal police shooting of a 1-year-old with newly released footage and a no-charges decision is nationally newsworthy and emotionally significant, but its impact is localized to one incident and family rather than broad public effect.
6 Science & Tech Analyst A fatal police shooting of a 1-year-old with a no-charges decision and video release is a newsworthy, high-profile local-to-national story with significant public debate, but it is a single incident with limited broader systemic impact.
5 Business Analyst The story reports a concrete event, the release of footage and a no-charges decision in a fatal police shooting of a toddler, which is newsworthy and draws national attention but has limited economic or market impact and is primarily a local justice story.
5 Global Affairs Analyst A fatal police shooting of a 1-year-old that sparks a contested no-charges decision and public video release is newsworthy with moderate national importance, but it is a domestic local criminal-justice matter rather than a conflict, treaty, or major diplomatic shift.

Sources (9)

← All stories