A Mississippi officer killed a 1-year-old outside a Walmart during an alleged diaper theft, and the state says force was justified

Mississippi’s attorney general has found that a Senatobia police officer was justified in using force when he fired into a car outside a Walmart, killing a one-year-old boy. According to the Daily Mail, Kohen Wiley died on June 14 after officers responded to an alleged diaper theft in the parking lot. The store is in a town roughly 40 miles from Memphis.

Soon afterward, police and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation (MBI) reported that officers tried to stop the car, which drove at them and almost hit one officer. The officer fired, striking Kohen and the driver. His mother, Vellesiya Wiley, gives a different account in a video posted days later. She denies that she or the driver took anything and disputes that the car headed at officers. She says she raised her son in the air so police could see him.

Attorney General Lynn Fitch’s office announced on Monday that it had completed its review. The office “found the use of force was justified,” its statement read. A Memphis TV report states that five MBI agents examined witness statements, body and dash camera video, and Walmart surveillance footage. The office declined to prosecute. Neither woman has been charged, online court records show.

State closes the criminal case

The officer, Sgt. Hunter Foster, is on administrative leave, which city leaders describe as standard after deadly police shootings. The City of Senatobia announced that “the state’s criminal case is now closed.” Foster’s attorney, Martin Zummach, told reporters the findings cleared his client of criminal wrongdoing and that the officer “had no choice but to fire his weapon.”

The family’s attorney, Ben Crump, named Foster and is pressing for the footage to be made public. “If the footage supports the state’s decision, release it,” Crump argued. He also questioned how anyone can accept the conclusion while relatives and the wider public have not seen it.

Crump added that a complaint claimed Foster made an offensive remark about race two days earlier. He also stated that the officers’ own report says they saw two women and a child get into the car. He questioned why an officer would fire knowing a child was inside.

Crump also cites an early independent autopsy that places the shot at the car’s side, not its front. He says that finding conflicts with police claims that the vehicle was moving toward the officers. An independent autopsy in July ruled the death a homicide, the same TV report states.

None of the body camera, dash camera or Walmart surveillance footage has been made public. A bystander clip posted soon after the shooting shows neither the shots nor the car driving toward officers. A state public safety spokesperson told that outlet that surveillance video will be released through public records requests.

Outside investigators handle other police-involved deaths in the region as well, including when a Memphis cruiser hit a car carrying six people.