Mississippi officials ruled a Senatobia officer’s force justified after 1-year-old Kohen Wiley was killed in a Walmart parking lot when investigators said the driver sped toward police during a shoplifting chase, as the family and attorney Ben Crump blasted the decision and sought federal review.
ABC News reported that the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation released body-camera and Walmart surveillance video Thursday, along with a redacted report, in the June 14 shooting at a Walmart in Senatobia, Mississippi.
The Mississippi Attorney General’s Office announced Monday that the Senatobia Police Department’s use of force was “justified.” No charges were brought against the officer under that finding, a decision the family condemned.
Kohen Wiley was fatally shot. An adult was critically injured. The officer who fired was placed on administrative leave pending the investigation.
On June 14, officers responded to a shoplifting call at the Senatobia Walmart. According to the MBI account described in the coverage, they encountered two adults allegedly fleeing the store with a child and running into a vehicle.
As officers tried to stop the vehicle from fleeing, one officer opened fire as the driver “sped toward the officers,” the MBI report said. The child was killed and an adult was critically injured, the report stated.
Body-camera video showed shots directed first toward the front of the vehicle. Another shot appeared to strike the front passenger side and break a window. A man inside Walmart can be heard on bodycam saying “two girls running.”
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, representing the family, said the two adults, including mother Vellesiya Wiley and a friend, were accused of stealing diapers and were never charged in the incident. Names of the adults were redacted from the released report.
Gov. Tate Reeves defended the probe and the police at a Wednesday press conference. He said he had not watched the body-camera video himself but trusted the MBI and the state attorney general’s office.
Reeves called the death “absolutely tragic” and said people should pray for the loss and for those who loved the child.
"Absolutely tragic, and anyone should be focused on praying for that loss of life, and the and the people who loved that young child, no question,"
He also said investigators found “it was very clear” that “the driver of the vehicle attempted to run over the policeman.”
That finding sits at the center of the state’s case. A fleeing car aimed at an officer is not a retail dispute. It is a deadly-weapon threat in a parking lot, with a toddler inside the same vehicle the driver chose to drive at police.
After a private viewing Thursday, maternal grandmother Veronica Roberson spoke at a family press conference. She said the footage left her disgusted and that the family had been wronged.
"I watched the video this morning that disgusted me,"
Roberson said she saw an officer come from inside Walmart with guns drawn without knowing what was going on, and added, “There’s no justification for that.”
Crump called the force excessive from the start and not justified. He urged a federal investigation and argued the officer could have moved out of the way instead of shooting.
"After reviewing that footage, we have made these observations that this was excessive from the very start,"
Crump framed the case around the alleged theft. “[Kohen] was killed over an allegation of shoplifting of diapers, and even if someone is charged, shoplifting diapers is a misdemeanor,” he said, adding that it “doesn’t warrant the death penalty” or “the death of 1-year-old baby Kohen.”
"We are just troubled in our souls that a 1-year-old little angel was taken from us in such a way as this. America, our society must have more empathy for human life,"
He also said, “Baby Kohen’s life mattered.” The grief is real. The legal question the AG answered is different: whether the officer faced a vehicle speeding at police when he fired.
Senatobia interim police chief Angelica Maze issued a Tuesday statement thanking the public for patience. She said the department understood strong emotions and respected peaceful expression.
"We understand that people may have questions, concerns, and strong emotions, and we respect everyone’s right to express their views peacefully,"
Maze added that open communication between residents and law enforcement mattered “as we move forward together.” On Thursday, the department did not respond on the officer’s employment status and offered no comment on the AG’s “justified” finding.
The released package still leaves hard gaps. The officer who fired is not named in the public account. Absolute dates for the Monday-through-Thursday sequence are not pinned beyond the June 14 shooting and the October 23, 2026, report. The second adult’s identity and any later federal action are not settled in the available record.
What the state did settle is the force call. MBI’s description is that the driver sped toward officers. Reeves said investigators found an attempt to run over a policeman. The AG ruled the shooting justified and did not charge the officer. Crump and the family call that outcome a failure of empathy and want Washington to step in.
A stolen pack of diapers does not justify death. A car used against a cop does justify an officer defending his life, and the tragedy is that a child was buckled into the choice the driver made.
