Mississippi AG Says Cop Was ‘Justified’ In Killing Of 1-Year-Old Black Child Kohen Wiley

The office of Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch has determined that the killing of 1-year-old Kohen Wiley by a Senatobia police officer was justified, siding with the officer and the police department, which claimed the driver of the vehicle the infant was in had weaponized her car against the officer, which, of course, is a go-to excuse used by local and federal officers alike after they have shot and killed someone who was unarmed.

According to the Mississippi Free Press, Fitch’s office announced on Monday that the Senatobia officer in question, Hunter Foster, will not be charged with a crime over the June shooting, which occurred after cops responded to a claim that Kohen’s mother, Vellesiya Wiley, and another Black woman, Latoya Ferrell, had stolen a pack of diapers from a local Walmart.

As we previously reported, on June 14, the two women exited the store with the child as officers arrived, entered their vehicle, and began to leave the parking lot. Officers drew their weapons, and Wiley lifted her son up to show the officers that a child was in the car, which didn’t prevent Foster from firing into the vehicle, killing the infant instantly. Wiley has denied that anyone in the car drove toward an officer or stole anything, and to date, neither she nor Ferrell has been charged with a crime.

So, if no one committed an arrestable offense that day, then why is a 1-year-old Black child dead?

“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,” Fitch’s office said in a statement. “In this incident, the Attorney General’s Office found the use of force was justified. Pursuant to Section 45-1-6 of the Mississippi Code, the review followed an investigation by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation.”

The Free Press noted that the Mississippi Department of Public Safety has not released any surveillance video of the shooting. There has been no public release of police body-cam footage or overhead video from the Walmart parking lot where Kohen was shot and killed. As usual, we’re expected to take it at face value that a Black life is lost and the killer who took it was justified.

Of course, this outcome is unsurprising, especially coming from the office of an attorney general who, in 2023, advocated for the release of a cop who was convicted of beating a Black man to death, even though the officer was only sentenced to five years in prison — a sentence that was overturned the year after Fitch called for the officer’s release.

In a statement sent to NewsOne, civil rights attorney Ben Crump said, “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. How can anyone accept that conclusion when Kohen’s family and the public still have not been allowed to see the body-camera footage? This is a department whose chief was fired after reports of racial slurs in his text messages, and whose officer faced a complaint alleging a racially offensive remark two days before he shot Kohen. If the footage supports the state’s decision, release it. We will not stop fighting until this family gets the truth.”

Black lives simply don’t matter to a “justice” system that, by default, gives police officers every benefit of the doubt after they’re accused of brutalizing and killing even the most innocent among us. 

They’re supposed to protect and serve, but who serves and protects us from them?

SEE ALSO:

Kohen Wiley: Senatobia Police Report On Shooting Has No Information

Why Do Black Children Keep Getting Killed Over Cheap Products?