Senatobia Police Shot a 1-Year-Old. The Official Report Omits His Name.
Nearly a month after Senatobia, Mississippi police shot and killed 1-year-old Kohen Wiley outside a Walmart, the department released its official incident report. The two-page document, obtained by Mississippi Today through a public records request, does not name a single officer, does not say how many officers were present, and does not explain why a shoplifting call ended with a toddler dead.
The call began shortly after 1:30 p.m. When officers responded to the Walmart over alleged shoplifting of baby clothes and a pack of Pampers diapers. At 2:04 p.m., police were alerted that shots had been fired.
The report’s next entry: the vehicle was impounded at 4:30 p.m. Everything in between is absent.
The Family’s Account Directly Contradicts the Department’s Silence
Kohen’s mother, 20-year-old Vellesiya Wiley, said her son was seated on her lap in the front passenger seat when officers fired three or four shots at their Ford Fusion. The toddler was struck in the chest. Her 22-year-old friend was shot in the arm and thigh. None of that appears in the report.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the family, shared a photograph dated July 2 showing the car’s front passenger window was shot out. Crump said the window damage is evidence that officers fired from beside the vehicle, not from in front of it.
“An officer fired at an ‘oncoming vehicle.’”
Tate County Sheriff’s Office statement, unnamed officer, no agency specified
The Sheriff’s Office statement raises more questions than it answers: it names no agency, no officer, and no circumstance. The Mississippi Department of Public Safety, which is conducting the investigation, has declined repeated public records requests.
Mississippi Has No Mandatory Body Camera Law
Mississippi does not require police departments to use body cameras. Senatobia police promised “full transparency” in a Facebook post hours after the shooting. Since then, the department has declined to release body camera or dashboard camera footage, assuming either exists.
Family attorneys announced on June 22 that they would pursue an independent autopsy. They say both the footage and the autopsy results are necessary for the family to understand how a shoplifting call over diapers ended with a child killed.
3-4 shots fired by Senatobia officers into a vehicle carrying a 1-year-old, according to his mother’s account, none of which appear in the official police report
What You Can Do Now
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Call Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves at (601) 359-3150 and demand a full, independent investigation into the Senatobia Police Department’s shooting of Kohen Wiley. Ask specifically for the release of all body camera and dashboard camera footage.
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Contact the Mississippi Department of Public Safety at (601) 987-1212. The department is conducting the investigation and has declined public records requests. Tell them the community deserves a transparent, timely accounting of what happened.
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Contact your Mississippi state legislators through the Mississippi Legislature’s Find Your Legislator tool and urge them to pass a mandatory body camera law for all law enforcement agencies in the state. Mississippi is one of the few states with no such requirement.
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Submit a public comment to the Senatobia City Council. City council meetings are open to the public. Contact the city at (662) 562-4361 and ask when the next meeting is scheduled. Demand the council require the Senatobia Police Department to release all footage and officer narratives related to the Kohen Wiley shooting.
Sources
Mississippi Today: Senatobia Police Released Internal Report on Toddler’s Shooting Death Ben Crump Law: Attorney Announces Independent Autopsy for Kohen Wiley Family Tate County Sheriff’s Office: Statement on Officer-Involved Shooting at Senatobia Walmart