Kohen Wiley: Here's What We Know About Fatal Shooting of Black Toddler
Published October 19, 2026 at 8:30 PM EDT
Copyright: Veronica Roberson, Credit: Veronica Roberson via AP, Creator: Veronica Roberson
SENATOBIA, MS— Four months after a police officer shot and killed 1-year-old Kohen Wiley outside a Walmart in Senatobia, Mississippi, Attorney General Lynn Fitch’s office has declared the use of force justified—without releasing a detailed explanation or video of the encounter. The October 19 decision leaves unresolved the conflicting accounts of police and Kohen’s mother, who disputes that the vehicle carrying her son threatened officers. Here is what we know about the shooting, the investigation and the questions authorities have yet to publicly answer.
The encounter
On June 14, 2026, police responded to alleged shoplifting at a Walmart in Senatobia, Mississippi, about 40 miles south of Memphis.
Kohen Wiley, 1, was in the front passenger seat in his mother Vellesiya Wiley’s arms. Latoya Ferrell was driving.
An officer fired into the vehicle, killing Kohen and wounding Ferrell. Records identify the officer as Sgt. Hunter Foster, although the attorney general’s announcement did not name him.
Why police say he fired
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation said the driver moved toward officers and nearly struck one. Foster’s lawyer maintains that the driver threatened officers’ lives. That is the police account; the publicly available evidence has not settled it.
What the mother disputes
Vellesiya says the driver was moving away from the officers, rather than toward them. She says she lifted Kohen to show police that a baby was inside. She also denies that she or Ferrell stole anything. Neither woman had been charged as of October 19, and officials had not publicly produced evidence establishing the alleged theft.
The physical evidence
An independent autopsy performed by forensic pathologist Dr. Roger Mitchell found that the fatal bullet entered the right side of Kohen’s chest and exited the left. Family attorneys argue that this supports their account that the officer fired from the side. Photos also show damage to the passenger-side window and windshield. Those details raise questions about positioning, but do not by themselves reconstruct everyone’s movements or establish whether another officer was endangered.
What the state decided—and disclosed
On October 19, Attorney General Lynn Fitch’s office declared the use of force justified following MBI’s investigation. Its brief announcement supplied no detailed factual explanation. Body-camera footage and Walmart surveillance video remained unreleased; the publicly circulated bystander clip does not capture the gunfire or show the vehicle driving toward officers.
Mississippi Today also reported that Vellesiya said in early October that MBI had never interviewed her. Kohen’s grandmother said she learned the decision through Facebook and had received no notification from state or local law enforcement. Those are the family’s reported statements.
The officer and department’s background
Foster previously faced misconduct allegations, including an accusation that he exaggerated a vehicle threat during a 2019 encounter. Reporting also uncovered an allegation that he made a racist remark shortly before Kohen’s death. Separately, Senatobia fired Police Chief Harold Vanderford after reporting exposed racist text messages. These matters warrant scrutiny but do not establish what happened during this shooting.
The major unanswered questions are where each officer stood, how the car moved, when Foster fired, how many shots he fired, and precisely what evidence supported Fitch’s decision. There is also an unresolved procedural discrepancy: Fitch announced a completed review, while Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell described the investigation as still open and active.
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