Family Demands Video Release in Mississippi Police Shooting

A family in Mississippi is demanding the release of video footage after their 1-year-old child was killed when police fired into a moving car. The incident has led to outcry in Senatobia, a small city with ongoing tensions over police interactions with Black residents.

Kohen Wiley was in a car with his mother and another woman in a Walmart parking lot on June 14. Police had responded to a shoplifting report. Kohen’s family claims they were leaving the scene when police say the vehicle was heading toward them.

I watched my baby take his first breath, and I watched my baby take his last breath, said Vellesiya Wiley, the child’s mother, during a news conference.

The other woman involved was critically injured according to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation (MBI), which is leading the case. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, alongside Kohen’s family at a local church, urged law enforcement to release any footage—be it from body cameras, dash cameras, or Walmart security—to determine if the officers faced any threat.

If that is the truth, then show us that, Crump stated. The longer you delay releasing the video, the more distrustful we become. MBI spokesperson Bailey Martin confirmed the shooting is a priority and that multiple agents are working diligently on it. However, Martin did not say what videos, if any, would be released.

The Senatobia Police Chief, Harold Vanderford, could not be reached for comment. Initial reports from state investigators indicated two women and a child got into a vehicle and drove away upon police arrival.

Officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver drove in the direction of the officers, almost striking one. An officer then discharged their weapon, and the vehicle fled the scene, their statement read.

Kohen’s mother claims the shoplifting call involved a box of diapers that her friend believed had been paid for. Crump criticized the police’s response.

They were called over a box of diapers, and a family now has to bury their baby, Crump said. You cannot put those two things next to each other and call it reasonable policing. He also mentioned that an independent autopsy would be conducted to clarify the circumstances surrounding the shooting.

Policing expert Ian Adams of the University of South Carolina noted last week that shooting into a moving vehicle presents significant risks to passengers and bystanders alike.