Mississippi AG rules police shooting that killed toddler Kohen Wiley justified

Mississippi's AG declared the June 2024 police shooting that killed 1-year-old Kohen Wiley outside a Senatobia Walmart justified. Family attorney Ben Crump disputes the ruling.

Mississippi AG clears officer in Walmart shooting that killed 1-year-old

The Mississippi Attorney General's Office ruled on Monday that the Senatobia Police Department acted lawfully when an officer opened fire on a vehicle last June, killing one-year-old Kohen Wiley, abcnews.com reports.

Wiley died on 14 June outside a Walmart in Senatobia after an officer discharged his weapon at a moving vehicle whose occupants were allegedly evading police following a shoplifting call.

"In this incident, the Attorney General's Office found the use of force was justified," the office said in its statement.

The sequence of events began when officers responded to a report of shoplifting at the Senatobia store. According to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, they encountered two adults allegedly leaving the store with a child before entering a vehicle. Attorneys representing the Wiley family stated the adults were accused of stealing diapers.

Officers attempted to stop the vehicle. One officer opened fire when the driver allegedly drove toward them, the bureau said. The child was killed and an adult critically injured. The mother, the child, and a family friend were in the vehicle at the time, according to the family's attorneys.

The bureau's investigative findings were handed to the attorney general's office in September, as required by Mississippi law, following a statement by Senatobia Interim Chief of Police Angelica Maze.

Family attorney Ben Crump rejected the ruling in a statement obtained by ABC News. "A 1-year-old baby was shot and killed by a police officer, and now the state of Mississippi says that use of force was justified," Crump said. He added: "How can anyone accept that conclusion when Kohen's family and the public still have not been allowed to see the body-camera footage?"

Surveillance footage of the incident has not been released to the public. The Senatobia Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Source: Google News MT — Crime (en)