The fatal police shooting of a one-year-old boy in Senatobia, Mississippi, has sparked protests, grief and demands for transparency as the child’s family disputes the official account of what happened.
Kohen Wiley was killed after police responded to a shoplifting call at a Walmart on June 14. Authorities said officers encountered two women and the child leaving the store in a vehicle. According to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, officers attempted to stop the car before the driver allegedly drove toward officers, nearly striking one of them. An officer then fired into the vehicle.
Kohen was shot and later died. Another person in the vehicle was also injured. The officer who fired the shot has been placed on administrative leave while the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation reviews the case.
The family has challenged the official version of events. Kohen’s mother, Vellesiya Wiley, has said the car was not driving toward officers and that the group was trying to leave the area. She has also disputed the allegation that diapers were stolen, saying she believes the items had been paid for.
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Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the family, has called for body camera video, dashcam footage and Walmart surveillance video to be released. Crump said the public needs to see the footage to understand whether the officer’s use of force was justified.
The shooting has intensified anger in Senatobia, a small city where some Black residents and civil rights advocates say tensions with police were already high. Community members have held protests and called for accountability, arguing that the situation should never have escalated from a shoplifting call into a fatal shooting.
Policing experts have also questioned the decision to fire into a moving vehicle. Many law-enforcement agencies discourage or restrict shooting at cars because bullets can strike passengers, bystanders or other unintended targets. In this case, the presence of a baby in the vehicle has made the use-of-force question even more urgent.
The case has drawn comparisons to other police encounters that began with low-level allegations and ended in the death of a Black person. Advocates say Kohen’s death raises difficult questions about how police respond to suspected petty theft, especially when children or other uninvolved passengers are present.
Officials have not yet released the video. The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is expected to turn over its findings to prosecutors once the review is complete. Authorities have not publicly identified the officer who fired the shot.
For Kohen’s family, the legal process is only one part of the loss. Relatives have described him as a joyful child with a bright smile who loved playing outside. His grandmother said he was deeply loved and remembered him pushing a toy lawnmower that blew bubbles.
The unanswered questions now center on the video evidence: where the officers were standing, how the vehicle moved, whether anyone inside posed an immediate threat and whether the officer had any safer alternative before firing.
Until those questions are answered, the shooting is likely to remain a flashpoint in Senatobia and beyond.
Why It Matters
The case matters because a one-year-old child died during a police response to an alleged shoplifting incident. It raises serious questions about use of force, shooting into vehicles, police accountability and transparency when official accounts are disputed by families and community members.
What Comes Next
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation will continue reviewing the shooting and is expected to provide findings to prosecutors. Kohen Wiley’s family and civil rights advocates are likely to keep pressing for the release of police and surveillance video.
Local news reported that police used tear gas during protests outside the Senatobia Walmart after the fatal shooting of one-year-old Kohen Wiley.
Police in Senatobia, Mississippi, used tear gas on protesters outside a Walmart Tuesday night. Lauren Turman reports from outside the store, where people were protesting the shooting death by police of 1-year-old Kohen Wiley.
Updates at: https://t.co/HWidcBuisS pic.twitter.com/0CLXDm82eN
— ABC24 Memphis (@ABC24Memphis) June 17, 2026
