Mississippi AG finds police shooting that killed 1-year-old was justified
Mississippi's top lawyer says a police officer in Senatobia was right to fire at a moving car on a theft call in June. The shot killed Kohen Wiley, who was 1. A lawyer for his family disputes that and wants police to release the body camera video.
The office of Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch said Monday that a Senatobia police officer was justified in firing into a moving car during a shoplifting call in June, a shot that killed 1-year-old Kohen Wiley, NBC News, AP and The Guardian reported.
"In this incident, the Attorney General's Office found the use of force was justified," the office said in a brief statement four months after the June 14 shooting. The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation, NBC reported.
Officers were responding to a call at a Walmart in Senatobia, about 40 miles south of Memphis, Tenn. They saw Kohen's mother, Vellesiya Wiley, carrying her son as she and a friend left the store, got into a car and began to drive away, AP reported. Police believed they had stolen diapers and baby clothes. The mother has denied that either of them stole anything, and neither woman has been charged, according to court records cited by AP and The Guardian.
The state bureau said officers tried to stop the car but it drove toward them, prompting an officer to fire, AP reported. The shot struck Kohen and his mother's friend. A lawyer for the officer, Martin Zummach, said the finding cleared his client and that the driver "tried to kill" officers. "He had no choice but to fire his weapon," Zummach said, according to AP.
The family disputes that account. Civil rights lawyer Ben Crump released an independent autopsy that indicated Kohen was shot from the side of the car, not the front, The Guardian reported. That contradicts officers' statements that the car was heading toward them. "If the footage supports the state's decision, release it," Crump said, NBC reported. "We will not stop fighting until this family gets the truth."
The Guardian reported that Kohen's mother had lifted him up to show officers there was a child in the car. It is not clear if or when the body camera video will be released.
The family has joined protests for months demanding justice, NBC reported.
What we know: The attorney general's office ruled the officer's use of force justified, and no one in the car has been charged.
What we don't: When, or whether, body camera video of the shooting will be made public.
Where outlets agree NBC News, AP and The Guardian all report that the attorney general's office ruled the officer's use of force justified in the June shooting that killed Kohen Wiley.
Where they differ The state says the car drove toward officers, while the family's lawyer points to an independent autopsy showing Kohen was shot from the side.