Key facts
- A 1-year-old boy, Kohen Wiley, was fatally shot by police in Senatobia, Mississippi.
- Police were responding to a shoplifting call at a local Walmart when the shooting occurred.
- The boy's mother claims the vehicle was not driven toward officers and disputes the shoplifting allegation.
- Civil rights attorney Ben Crump is representing the boy's mother.
- The incident has drawn comparisons to other cases of Black individuals killed in police encounters.
- Protests have been organized in Senatobia demanding police accountability.
A fatal police shooting of a one-year-old boy in Senatobia, Mississippi, has intensified tensions between the Black community and law enforcement. Kohen Wiley died after officers responded to a shoplifting call at a Walmart on June 14. According to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, officers attempted to stop a vehicle leaving the store, and the driver allegedly drove toward them, leading an officer to fire their weapon. Kohen's mother, Vellesiya Wiley, represented by civil rights attorney Ben Crump, disputes the police account, stating the vehicle was not accelerating towards officers and questioning the shoplifting claim.
Policing expert Ian Adams noted that shooting into a moving vehicle is generally considered a dangerous tactic to be avoided. The incident has drawn comparisons to other cases where Black individuals have died in encounters with police, including the fatal shooting of Ta'Kiya Young in Ohio in 2023 and the murder of George Floyd in 2020. Civil rights advocates, including Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., have condemned the incident, highlighting the perceived devaluation of Black lives over minor alleged offenses.
Community leaders like Marquell Bridges of the Building Bridges Coalition described Kohen's death as a "breaking point" following years of problematic interactions between Black residents and the Senatobia police. Past incidents include an officer's aggressive arrest of a woman in the same Walmart parking lot and the firing of an officer for his role in arresting a 10-year-old boy. Civil rights attorney Carlos Moore has criticized the department's alleged culture of impunity. The officer involved in the shooting has been placed on administrative leave pending the MBI investigation. Kohen's grandmother, Veronica Roberson, remembered him as a happy baby with a beautiful smile.