Mississippi AG says officer's force was justified in boy's shooting

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 19 Oct, 21:07 · Archive

Mississippi's attorney general has concluded a police officer was justified in using force during a June incident in which 1-year-old Kohen Wiley was fatally shot.

Mississippi's attorney general has concluded that a Senatobia police officer was justified in using force during a June incident that resulted in the death of 1-year-old Kohen Wiley. Officers responded to a shoplifting call at a Walmart, where they saw Kohen's mother, Vellesiya Wiley, and a friend leaving the store and getting into a car. Police reports indicated that diapers and baby clothes were allegedly stolen. According to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but the car drove toward law enforcement, prompting an officer to fire into the car and striking Kohen and his mother's friend.

Kohen's mother denied that she or her friend stole anything and disputed that the car headed toward the officers. Ben Crump, the civil rights attorney representing Kohen's family, said results of a preliminary independent autopsy indicate Kohen was shot from the side of the car, not the front, contradicting officers' claims that the car was heading toward them. The shooting has prompted months of mourning and calls for justice both nationally and in Senatobia, a town about 40 miles south of Memphis, Tennessee. The incident is the latest in a series that has eroded trust between the Senatobia police department and the city's Black citizens.

How it is being reported

• Mississippi AG says officer's force was justified during shoplifting call in which boy was killedMississippi’s attorney general says a Senatobia police officer was justified in using force during a June shoplifting call that ended in the fatal shooting of 1-year-old Kohen Wiley.Clickorlando · 19 Oct, 18:48
• Mississippi AG says officer's force was justified during shoplifting call in which boy was killedMississippi’s attorney general says a Senatobia police officer was justified in using force during a June shoplifting call that ended in the fatal shooting of 1-year-old Kohen Wiley.News4Jax · 19 Oct, 18:48

In this story: Kohen Wiley · Vellesiya Wiley · Ben Crump · Senatobia police department · Mississippi attorney general · Senatobia · Mississippi

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