Mississippi Attorney General Rules Shooting of 1-Year-Old Kohen Wiley Was Justified

Updated 21:02 UTC

Senatobia interim police chief Angelica Maze is stepping down from the interim chief role, city officials said on Friday, October 23, 2026, the same day Mayor Greg Graves confirmed Sgt. Hunter Foster's resignation.

City clerk Katie Harbin told CNN on Friday that Maze has resigned as interim chief but is staying with the department in a different capacity. News Talk 98.9, citing a city alderman, reported that the move takes effect on Sunday and that Maze will return to her previous position as a lieutenant in the department.

Maze became interim chief after former chief Harold Vanderford was fired last month following reports that he used racist slurs in private text messages, according to Associated Press reporting cited by CNN. The reports on Friday gave no reason for Maze stepping down.

Updated 17:15 UTC

Senatobia Mayor Greg Graves confirmed on Friday, October 23, 2026 that Sgt. Hunter Foster, the officer who fired into a moving car on June 14 and killed 1-year-old Kohen Wiley, has resigned from the Senatobia Police Department.

The board of aldermen accepted Foster's resignation on Wednesday, October 21, and it took effect immediately, Graves told The Commercial Appeal. Foster is no longer employed by the city. The city placed Foster on leave on June 16, but neither the city nor the police department had confirmed whether he was still employed until Friday.

Graves also confirmed the resignation to The Associated Press on Friday. Foster's attorney, Martin Zummach, declined to comment when reached on Friday, The Associated Press reported. Zummach has said Foster had no choice but to fire because the vehicle was moving toward him, a claim Kohen's mother, Vellesiya Wiley, has disputed.

Attorney Van Turner, who represents Kohen's family with Ben Crump, called on Thursday for Foster to be de-certified as a police officer. "What we need is for him to be de-certified so that he's not able to go to another police department and do the same thing," Turner said at a news conference on Thursday, The Associated Press reported. The family's legal team has also called for the federal government to investigate the shooting.

Updated 02:46 UTC

Mississippi officials released the body camera and surveillance footage on Thursday, October 22, 2026, that the family of Kohen Wiley had demanded since the attorney general cleared the officer on Monday.

The footage, released by the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, included body camera video from several officers and surveillance video from the Walmart in Senatobia where Kohen was shot on June 14. In the body camera video of the officer who fired, the officer approached the car as the driver backed up and tried to drive off, stepped in front of the slow moving car, then stepped aside as it accelerated. The officer fired into the vehicle at least three times, including through the passenger side window, while stepping out of its path, The Commercial Appeal reported. The car appeared to make minor contact with another officer. No law enforcement injuries were reported.

People identified the officer who fired as Hunter Foster of the Senatobia Police Department. Kohen's family and their attorneys reviewed the footage from his body camera on Thursday. At a news conference that day, attorney Ben Crump said the video showed the fatal shot came from the side of the car, as the family's independent autopsy had found in July. "We continue to stand on the fact that the shot from the side of the vehicle was not justified," Crump said, adding that he did not believe Foster was in imminent danger. Crump said the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation told the family that three shots were fired.

A heavily redacted incident report from the bureau, released with the footage, said officers were first at the Walmart over a report of a man attempting to sexually harass customers, and that store asset protection staff told them people who had committed fraudulent transactions were leaving. The report said the driver rear-ended another car, put the vehicle in drive and sped toward the officers before one officer fired. The car then hit another vehicle and drove out of the parking lot, the report said. The Mississippi Department of Public Safety declined to comment further. Kohen would have turned 2 on November 1. The officer was placed on leave on June 16, and it was not clear on October 22 whether he was still with the department.

Updated 22:14 UTC

SENATOBIA, Mississippi. Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch announced on Monday, October 19, 2026 that her office has completed its review of the June 14, 2026 police shooting that killed 1-year-old Kohen Wiley in Senatobia, and found that the officer's use of force was justified.

The brief statement said the review followed an investigation by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, under Section 45-1-6 of the Mississippi Code. It involved one officer with the Senatobia Police Department. The finding means the officer will not face criminal charges from the state review, the Clarion Ledger reported. The attorney general's office did not explain in the statement how investigators reached the conclusion, and it did not say whether a full report would be released.

What happened on June 14

Senatobia officers went to a local Walmart on June 14 after a shoplifting call. Police reports said diapers and baby clothes had allegedly been taken. Officers saw Kohen's mother, Vellesiya Wiley, carrying her son as she left the store with a friend, Latoya Ferrell. The two women got into a car and began to drive away.

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation said at the time that officers tried to stop the vehicle, but the driver drove in the direction of the officers, almost striking one. An officer fired into the car. Kohen, who was in his mother's arms, was hit, and Ferrell was also wounded. The car reached a hospital, where Kohen was pronounced dead.

Senatobia is a small city about 40 miles south of Memphis, Tennessee. The shooting set off days of protests in the town and drew national attention.

The family disputes the police account

Vellesiya Wiley denied in a video released days after the shooting that she or her friend stole anything. She also disputed that Ferrell drove toward the officers. She said she raised her baby up to show officers that a child was in the car, and that shots followed soon after.

The family hired civil rights attorney Ben Crump. At a July 1 press conference, Crump read from an independent autopsy that put the cause of death as a gunshot wound to the torso. He said the bullet entered from the right side, not from the front, which he argued contradicted the claim that the car was heading toward police. He also showed a photo of the vehicle with a shattered passenger side window and a bullet hole in the front windshield.

The officer who fired was placed on leave, the city announced on June 16. Reports on Monday said it was not clear what the officer's current employment status is. Neither woman has been charged, People reported, and no body camera or surveillance footage from the shooting has been released.

Crump calls for the footage

After Monday's announcement, Crump called for the immediate release of body camera and surveillance footage.

"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 in a statement quoted by People. "How can anyone accept that conclusion when Kohen's family and the public still have not been allowed to see the body-camera footage? If the footage supports the state's decision, release it. We will not stop fighting until this family gets the truth."

CNN reported that the shooting is the latest in a string of incidents that has hurt trust between the Senatobia Police Department and the city's Black residents. The city's former police chief, Harold Vanderford, was fired last month after reporting alleged he used racist slurs in private text messages, according to reports cited by CNN and People.

What happens next

For now, the state review is closed with no criminal charges. What remains open is the public argument over the footage. The family says the video will show what really happened in the parking lot. The attorney general's office has not said whether it will release the footage or a fuller account of its review.

This is a developing story and will be updated if officials release the footage, a full report, or a response from the Senatobia Police Department.