Lynn Fitch, the attorney general of Mississippi, says a Senatobia officer was justified in using force that ultimately killed 1-year-old Kohen Wiley. The announcement came on Monday, after months of mourning and calls for justice. The Mississippi AG’s office has not released the evidence supporting the justification, sparking outrage across communities and callouts online.
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1-Year-Old Passes Away After Officer Fires Into Car
The police shooting occurred in Senatobia, a small town, about 40 miles south of Memphis, Tennessee, on June 14. Senatobia officers responded to a shoplifting call at a Walmart. Once there, they saw Vellesiya Wiley, Kohen’s mother, carrying her son as she and a friend left the store. Then they got into a car and allegedly started driving away.
Apparently, police believed the women stole diapers and baby clothes. Wiley and her friend are both Black. Kohen’s mother has denied she or her friend stole anything. Additionally, neither of them has been charged with shoplifting or any other counts, according to online state and county court records.
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According to a post-shooting statement from the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, officers attempted to stop the vehicle. However, the car allegedly drove toward law enforcement. This alleged action prompted an officer to fire into the car. Bullets struck Kohen Wiley and his mother’s friend. Wiley died and the other woman was badly injured.
Wiley Family Wants Evidence Supporting Justification Released
Martin Zummach, an attorney who represents the officer who fired the shot that killed Kohen, says the attorney general’s findings cleared his client of criminal wrongdoing. He said the driver, Wiley’s friend, “tried to kill” his client and other officers who were present.
“He had no choice but to fire his weapon,” Zummach told The Associated Press.
But days after the shooting, Vellesiya Wiley disputed that her friend headed toward the officers. Now, her legal representative Ben Crump is calling for the release of evidence supporting Lynn Fitch’s justification of the shooting.
Additionally, Crump revealed that the results of a preliminary independent autopsy indicate Kohen Wiley was shot from the side of the car, not the front. The direction contradicts officers’ claims that the car was heading toward them. Moreover, a photo of the car after the shooting shows that the passenger window was shattered and an apparent bullet hole pierced the windshield on the passenger side.
Crump on Monday pointed out that authorities nor Mississippi AG Lynn Fitch have yet to release video footage of the encounter. Also, Fitch’s office has not revealed any other evidence to support the finding that the shooting was a justified use of force. And despite growing online criticism, the Mississippi AG has not publicly shared her office’s reasoning behind the decision.
“How can anyone accept that conclusion when Kohen’s family and the public still have not been allowed to see the body-camera footage?” Crump said in a statement. “If the footage supports the state’s decision, release it. We will not stop fighting until this family gets the truth.”
Also, Marquell Bridges called for the release of video footage of the shooting in a statement. Bridges is an activist who has been working with Kohen Wiley’s family.
“His family deserves the truth. The public deserves transparency,” Bridges said. “We will not be silent. We will not look away. And we will not allow the life of a Black child to be treated as though it means nothing.”
Experts Say Mississippi Officer Fired Weapon From Car’s Side
Meanwhile, John P. Gross, an expert on police use of force on moving vehicles, said that if the vehicle had been moving toward officers, the best practice would have been for them to get out of the way.
“This shooting was almost certainly unjustified,” Gross told the AP. “In terms of both officer safety, the safety of the occupants of the vehicle and general public safety, you don’t shoot vehicles.”
Also, Charles ‘Joe’ Key said the image of the vehicle after the shooting suggests that the officer fired from the side. Key is a firearms and ballistics expert and a former Baltimore police lieutenant who typically testifies on behalf of police.
“That indicates that the officer who did the shooting was not personally at risk at the time he shot,” Key said. “The only way it would have been justified is if officers had been in the path of a car driving directly at them.” He added, “The body-worn camera’s going to have to tell if anybody was in danger.”
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Associated Press writers Sophie Bates and Jack Brook contributed to this report via AP Newsroom.
