Police officer who shot and killed 1-year-old Black boy in Mississippi will face no criminal charges
Por Rich Amofa — – World RSS Feed
Police officer who shot and killed 1-year-old Black boy in Mississippi will face no criminal charges
The conclusion of the state’s investigation into the death of Kohen Wiley follows months of mourning and calls for justice
Rich Amofa Monday 19 October 2026 19:43 BST
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The Mississippi police officer who shot and killed a Black toddler while responding to a shoplifting call will face no criminal charges, the state attorney general announced Monday.
The conclusion of the state’s investigation into the shooting death of 1-year-old Kohen Wiley follows months of mourning and calls for justice, both nationally and in Senatobia, a small town about 40 miles (65 kilometers) south of Memphis, Tennessee, where the shooting took place.
The shooting occurred on June 14 after Senatobia officers responded to a shoplifting call at a local Walmart, where they saw Vellesiya Wiley, Kohen’s mother, carrying her son as she and a friend left the store, got into a car and began driving away.
Wiley and her friend are both Black.
Officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but the car drove toward law enforcement, prompting an officer to fire into the car, striking Kohen and his mother’s friend, according to a statement released shortly after the shooting by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation.
open image in galleryIn a video released days after the shooting, Vellesiya Wiley denied that she or her friend stole anything and disputed that her friend, who was driving, headed toward the officers.
Ben Crump, a nationally renowned civil rights attorney who is representing Kohen’s family, has said results of a preliminary independent autopsy indicate Kohen was shot from the side of the car, not the front, contradicting officers’ claims that the car was heading toward them.
Police reports indicate diapers and baby clothes were allegedly stolen, but neither Kohen’s mother nor her friend has been charged with theft.
Kohen Wiley was riding in a car with his mother and another woman in a Walmart parking lot on June 14 when officers responded to a shoplifting report.
The family says the vehicle was driving away from police, while officers contend it was moving toward them.
“I watched my baby take his first breath, and I watched my baby take his last breath,” Vellesiya Wiley said during a news conference at the time.
The shooting sparked outrage Senatobia, where some say it’s the latest in a series of troubling encounters between police and Black residents.
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