Mississippi attorney general says use of force was justified in death of 1-year-old Kohen Wiley

Veronica Roberson via AP

Mississippi’s attorney general says a Senatobia police officer was justified in the June shooting death of a 1-year-old boy while responding to a shoplifting call.

The conclusion of the state’s investigation into the shooting death of 1-year-old Kohen Wiley follows months of mourning and calls for justice , both nationally and in the small town about 40 miles (65 kilometers) south of Memphis, Tennessee, where the shooting took place.

The shooting occurred in mid-June as Senatobia officers responded to a shoplifting call at a local Walmart, where they saw Vellesiya Wiley, Kohen’s mother, carrying her son as she and a friend left the store, got into a car and began driving away. Wiley and her friend are both Black. Police reports indicate diapers and baby clothes were allegedly stolen.

Police chief in Mississippi city where 1-year-old boy was fatally shot is fired over alleged racial slurs in texts

According to a statement released shortly after the shooting by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but the car drove toward law enforcement, prompting an officer to fire into the car, striking Kohen and his mother’s friend.

In a video released days after the shooting, Vellesiya Wiley denied that she or her friend stole anything and disputed that her friend, who was driving, headed toward the officers. Ben Crump, a nationally renowned civil rights attorney who is representing Kohen’s family, has said results of a preliminary independent autopsy indicate Kohen was shot from the side of the car, not the front, contradicting officers’ claims that the car was heading toward them.

Police shooting of a 1-year-old Mississippi boy ignites tension between police and Black residents

The shooting is the latest in a string of incidents that has eroded trust between the Senatobia police department and the city’s Black citizens.

Last year, a Senatobia officer threatened a Black woman with a Taser, pulling her from her car and onto the ground and arresting her during a confrontation over a handicapped parking space in the same Walmart lot where Kohen was shot. Two years earlier, a Senatobia police officer was fired for arresting a 10-year-old boy for urinating in public.

More recently, former Senatobia Police Chief Harold Vanderford was fired by the city’s board of aldermen after reporting by The New York Times, Mississippi Today and Verite News alleged he used racist slurs in private text messages.

Veronica Roberson via AP

密西西比州总检察长表示，塞纳托比亚一名警官在6月份接到一起商店行窃报警后开枪打死一名1岁男童的行为是正当的。

在全国和位于田纳西州孟菲斯以南约 40 英里（65 公里）的小镇（枪击事件发生地）经历了数月的哀悼和伸张正义的呼声之后，该州对 1 岁男童科恩·威利枪击死亡事件的调查终于结束。

枪击事件发生在六月中旬，当时塞纳托比亚警方接到报警称当地一家沃尔玛超市发生盗窃案。警方赶到现场后发现，科恩的母亲维莱西娅·威利抱着儿子，和一位朋友一起离开商店，上了车后驾车离开。威利和她的朋友都是黑人。警方报告显示，据称被盗物品包括尿布和婴儿服装。

密西西比州一座城市发生一起1岁男童遭枪击身亡事件，该市警察局长因涉嫌在短信中发表种族歧视言论而被解雇。

根据密西西比州调查局在枪击事件发生后不久发表的声明，警员试图拦截该车辆，但该车却向执法人员驶去，导致一名警员向车内开枪，击中了科恩和他母亲的朋友。

在枪击事件发生几天后公布的一段视频中，维莱西娅·威利否认她或她的朋友偷窃了任何东西，并反驳了她的朋友（当时正在开车）朝着警察驶来的说法。代表科恩家属的全国知名民权律师本·克伦普表示，初步的独立尸检结果显示，科恩是从车身侧面而非车头中枪的，这与警方声称汽车正朝着他们驶来的说法相矛盾。

密西西比州一名1岁男童遭警察枪击，引发警察与黑人居民之间的紧张关系。

这起枪击事件是近期一系列事件中的最新一起，这些事件已经削弱了塞纳托比亚警察局与该市黑人居民之间的信任。

去年，在科恩被枪击的同一家沃尔玛超市停车场，一名塞纳托比亚警官因残疾人停车位纠纷，将一名黑人女性从车里拽出来按倒在地并逮捕。两年前，一名塞纳托比亚警官因逮捕一名在公共场所小便的10岁男孩而被解雇。

最近，前塞纳托比亚警察局长哈罗德·范德福德被市议会解雇，此前《纽约时报》、《今日密西西比》和《真理新闻》报道称，他在私人短信中使用了种族歧视性言论。