Police officer involved in 1-year-old’s shooting death during Walmart shoplifting call placed on leave

SENATOBIA, Miss. (WMC) - The head of the Mississippi Department of Public Safety is urging residents to be patient as the agency investigates the shooting death of one-year-old Kohen Wiley.

The officer who fired the fatal shots has not been officially identified. Senatobia leaders confirmed Tuesday night that the officer has been placed on administrative leave, which is a standard practice after deadly police shootings.

The child was killed when police opened fire on his family’s car in the parking lot of Walmart Sunday while responding to a shoplifting call.

Investigators said the car was driving in their direction and nearly hit one of the officers, leading to the use of force.

Protesters returned to the Walmart on Tuesday night. Law enforcement in riot gear used tear gas to disperse the crowd.

One mile away at the Tate County Courthouse, Kaysoski Sanders drove from Memphis to join the call for justice.

“You gonna shoot up a car with a baby in it? Come on man, that’s ridiculous. That’s uncalled for. That’s uncalled for. Guaranteed it was because of the color of their skin,” Sanders told Action News 5.

Protester Aretha Lester is from Holly Springs.

“People need to just stand up. It’s in this community today. It’s in mine, too. But it may be on my doorstep tomorrow,” Lester said.

Wiley was in a car with his mother and her friend when he was shot. Famed civil rights attorney Ben Crump now represents the family.

“Kohen Wiley was a baby. His mother, who has not been charged with any crime, says she was trying to communicate to officers that there was a baby in the car,” Crump said in a statement Tuesday. “They fired anyway, leading to the death of an innocent one-year-old. We intend to seek justice for baby Kohen and the life that was stolen from him.”

Commissioner Sean Tindell, head of the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, urged the community to be patient while his agency investigates the shooting, interviewing witnesses and reviewing body and dash cam video along with Walmart’s surveillance video.

“Make no mistake… this is a very tragic situation,” Tindell said. “I want the public to be assured that the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation will conduct its independent investigation. We have five agents working on this case, gathering statements, gathering evidence.”

The City of Senatobia said in a statement Tuesday:

It’s an investigation facing serious scrutiny beyond city limits.

“It’s mandatory we stand up for what’s right and what’s wrong. We’re tired of being second class citizens, 3/4 of a human being. We ain’t taking it no more,” Sanders said.

Commissioner Tindell gave no timeline for the completion of the investigation, but said all the evidence, including video, will be made available to the public once the investigation has concluded.

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