A Mississippi family is devastated after a one-year-old child was killed after police officers responded to a shoplifting call at a Walmart in Senatobia, Mississippi, a city located 40 miles south of Memphis, Tennessee.
One-year-old Kohen Wiley was in a vehicle with his mother and a family friend when he was fatally shot by officers, according to attorney Ben Crump. The family friend was critically injured in the shooting, which is now under investigation by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigations.
“Kohen Wiley was a baby. His mother, who has not been charged with any crime, says she was trying to communicate to officers that there was a baby in the car,” Crump said in a statement.
“They fired anyway, leading to the death of an innocent 1-year-old. We intend to seek justice for baby Kohen and the life that was stolen from him.”
In a statement, the Mississippi Bureau of Investigations said the officers on the scene “encountered two subjects and a juvenile child fleeing from the store into a vehicle,” and the driver of the vehicle “drove in the direction of the officers, almost striking one.”
An officer then discharged their weapon, striking the vehicle and the vehicle fled the scene. No injuries to any officers involved in the incident were reported.
In a Facebook post shortly after the incident, the Senatobia Police Department offered full transparency in relation to the shooting. The city of Senatobia released a statement on Tuesday urging the community to “avoid speculation” regarding the case.
“We understand that emotions are high and that many questions remain,” a portion of the statement read. “We respectfully ask our community to avoid speculation and the spread of unverified information while the investigation is underway. Please allow the investigative process to take its course so that the facts—not rumors or assumptions—guide our understanding of this tragic event.”
Members of Kohen Wiley’s family denied that anyone had shoplifted. According to WREG, a witness stated they saw a woman carrying diapers and another woman carrying the infant as they headed for their vehicle.
“I seen the officers take off running, not in the car, I’m talking about on feet, and these are the Sheriffs and the police,” the witness, a woman, said. “They’re running through the parking lot and I see the car take off you know, so in my head, I’m like, I know they’re not chasing the car, they don’t think they’re going to catch the car. Then I hear gunshots and I’m like, I know they’re not shooting at a car that’s leaving in a public, this is Walmart.”
A gathering was held on Tuesday outside Senatobia City Hall, calling for accountability in the young child’s death.
