Mississippi officer faces no charges over 1-year-old's death

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 19 Oct, 22:19 · Archive

A Mississippi police officer will not face criminal charges after shooting and killing a one-year-old boy during a shoplifting call investigation.

The Mississippi attorney general announced Monday that the police shooting of one-year-old Kohen Wiley was 'justified' and will result in no criminal charges. The child was killed on 14 June when officers responded to a shoplifting call at a Walmart in Senatobia, a small city near Memphis. Officers observed Vellesiya Wiley, the child's mother, and her friend Latoya Ferrell leaving the store with the child, entering their vehicle and beginning to drive away.

As officers arrived, Sergeant Hunter Foster fired into the vehicle, killing Kohen Wiley and wounding Ferrell. Police reports alleged the vehicle drove towards the officers, but civil rights attorney Ben Crump, representing the family, released an independent autopsy indicating the child was shot from the side of the car, contradicting officers' statements. Neither Wiley nor Ferrell has been charged with a crime, and officials have not released evidence of shoplifting.

Kohen's mother disputed that she or Ferrell stole anything and stated in a video released after the shooting that Ferrell did not head towards the officers. 'I watched my baby take his first breath, and I watched my baby take his last breath,' she said during a press conference. The case has drawn national attention and calls for justice in the four months since the shooting.

How it is being reported

• Mississippi attorney general rules fatal police shooting of one-year-old as ‘justified’Officers responding to an alleged shoplifting call fired into the vehicle of Vellesiya Wiley, killing her son, Kohen On Monday, the office of the Mississippi attorney general, Lynn Fitch, announced that the police shooting of Kohen Wiley, a one-year-old, as he sat in his mother’s lap “was justified”. The statement came four months after the baby was killed in Senatobia, Mississippi. On 14 June, officers in Senatobia, a small city near Memphis, were responding to a shoplifting call alleging Vellesiya Wiley, the baby’s mother, and Latoya Ferrell, a friend, had stolen a pack of diapers. Neither…Guardian World · 19 Oct, 21:58
• Police officer who shot and killed 1-year-old Black boy in Mississippi will face no criminal chargesThe conclusion of the state’s investigation into the death of Kohen Wiley follows months of mourning and calls for justiceIndependent World · 19 Oct, 19:43

In this story: Kohen Wiley · Vellesiya Wiley · Latoya Ferrell · Hunter Foster · Ben Crump · Lynn Fitch · Senatobia · Mississippi

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