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

The police chief of a northern Mississippi city where 1-year-old Black child Kohen Wiley was shot and killed by police responding to a shoplifting call was fired Tuesday amid a new controversy.

Senatobia Police Chief Harold Vanderford submitted his resignation the same day, but the city’s board of aldermen declined to acknowledge it and instead voted unanimously to fire the chief, according to the city clerk, who did not elaborate on their reasons.

The firing followed reporting by The New York Times, Mississippi Today and Verite News last month that alleged Vanderford used racist slurs in private text conversations with a colleague. It also comes amid the aftermath of the child’s shooting and other incidents.

Mississippi child killed after police shoot at vehicle while responding to shoplifting call

The toddler Wiley was fatally shot and another woman was wounded June 14 after a Senatobia police officer fired into a vehicle while investigating a shoplifting call at a Walmart. The boy’s mother, Vellesiya Wiley, denied that she or a friend accompanying her had stolen anything, and no charges have been filed against them.

The officer who shot Wiley and the woman driving the car the child was in has been placed on administrative leave while the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation looks into the shooting.

Kohen Wiley was Black, as is his mother. The death ignited anger in a small city where tensions between Black residents and the police have boiled over in recent years. Senatobia, with a population of more than 8,000, is about 40 miles (65 kilometers) south of Memphis.

Veronica Roberson via AP

“I believe the Board has a responsibility to protect the integrity and trust of the Senatobia Police Department,” Alderman Demetrius Garrett wrote in a Facebook post. “I still believe in unity. But unity does not mean ignoring serious issues it means standing together for what is right.”

The city had previously addressed the reporting about Vanderford’s texts, saying in a statement on Aug. 25 that he had appeared before the mayor and board to answer questions and that he would continue to serve as police chief.

Senatobia Alderman Chris McConnell called for an independent investigation of the police department.

“We need answers about departmental leadership, internal culture, the handling of complaints and misconduct, financial practices, and whether the Board has been receiving the information necessary to provide proper oversight,” McConnell said in a statement. “Our citizens deserve a police department they can trust.”

National civil rights attorney Ben Crump , representing Kohen Wiley’s family, called the chief’s firing the “right decision.”

The Kohen Wiley Story: One-Year-Old Boy Shot & Killed by Mississippi Police | First Of All with Victor Blackwell | CNN Audio

“The racist language that cost Chief Vanderford his job is exactly why this family cannot simply be told to trust the process,” Crump said in a statement calling for the Mississippi Bureau of Investigations to release body-camera footage of the shooting. “Give this family the facts they have been owed since the day Kohen died.”

The Senatobia Police Department declined to comment on the firing, and Vanderford could not be immediately located for a response Wednesday.

Vanderford was appointed police chief on Sept. 29, 2025, after the board of aldermen declined to reappoint the previous chief, Richard Chandler, in July of that year.

Chandler led the police department through several controversies. They included the 2023 arrest of a 10-year-old Black boy for urinating in public and an incident in which an officer threatened a woman with a Taser and pulled her from her car during a dispute over a handicapped parking space outside the same Walmart where the child was shot.

“You removed Richard Chandler,” said Senatobia community activist Patrick Lumumba. “But you did not remove the culture of racism, and that’s what Vanderford harbors.”

Following the child’s death, Lumumba formed the Senatobia Committee for Accountability and Transparency, a community watchdog group that is demanding answers about the June shooting and advocating for better policing.

He voiced confidence in Lt. Angelica Maze, who will serve as the department’s interim police chief, calling her a“good person.”

周二，密西西比州北部一座城市的警察局长因一起警察在接到商店行窃报警后开枪打死1岁黑人男童科恩·威利的事件而被解雇，引发新的争议。

据市书记员称，塞纳托比亚警察局长哈罗德·范德福德当天提交了辞呈，但市议会拒绝承认他的辞呈，反而一致投票解雇了这位局长，市书记员没有详细说明解雇的原因。

此前，《纽约时报》、《今日密西西比》和《真实新闻》上月报道称，范德福德涉嫌在与同事的私人短信对话中使用种族歧视性语言。此次解雇正值儿童枪击案及其他事件余波未平之际。

密西西比州一名儿童在警方接到商店行窃报警后出警时，遭警方开枪射击身亡。

6月14日，塞纳托比亚一名警官在沃尔玛超市调查一起盗窃案时，向一辆汽车开枪，导致幼童威利不幸身亡，另一名女子受伤。威利的母亲维莱西娅·威利否认她或与她同行的朋友偷窃任何东西，目前她们尚未被起诉。

开枪射杀威利的警官和驾驶威利所在车辆的女子已被停职，密西西比州调查局正在调查这起枪击事件。

科恩·威利是黑人，他的母亲也是。他的死在塞纳托比亚这座小城引发了众怒，近年来，该市黑人居民与警方之间的紧张关系已持续恶化。塞纳托比亚人口超过8000，位于孟菲斯以南约40英里（65公里）处。

Veronica Roberson via AP

“我认为，委员会有责任维护塞纳托比亚警察局的诚信和公信力，”市议员德米特里厄斯·加勒特在脸书上发帖写道。“我仍然相信团结。但团结并不意味着忽视严肃的问题，而是意味着为了正义而团结一致。”

此前，该市曾就范德福德的短信报道作出回应，并在 8 月 25 日的一份声明中表示，范德福德已出席市长和市议会的会议回答问题，并将继续担任警察局长。

塞纳托比亚市议员克里斯·麦康奈尔呼吁对警察局进行独立调查。

麦康奈尔在一份声明中表示：“我们需要了解警局领导层、内部文化、投诉和不当行为的处理方式、财务运作情况，以及警务委员会是否获得了进行有效监督所需的必要信息。我们的市民理应拥有一个值得信赖的警察部门。”

代表科恩·威利家属的全国民权律师本·克伦普称，解雇警察局长是“正确的决定”。

科恩·威利的故事：一岁男童被密西西比州警方枪杀 | 维克多·布莱克威尔主持的《首先》节目 | CNN音频

“正是因为使用了种族歧视性语言，范德福德警长才丢了工作，而这恰恰说明我们不能简单地告诉科恩的家人相信调查程序，”克伦普在一份声明中呼吁密西西比州调查局公布枪击事件的执法记录仪视频。“把科恩去世那天起，他们就应该知道的真相还给科恩的家人。”

塞纳托比亚警察局拒绝就解雇事件发表评论，周三也未能立即联系到范德福德进行回应。

2025 年 7 月，市议会拒绝重新任命前任警察局长理查德·钱德勒，之后范德福德于 2025 年 9 月 29 日被任命为警察局长。

钱德勒领导的警察局经历了数起争议事件。其中包括2023年一名10岁黑人男孩因在公共场所小便而被捕，以及一名警官在沃尔玛超市外因残疾人停车位发生争执时，用电击枪威胁一名女子并将其从车里拖出来的事件——而就在这家沃尔玛超市，那名儿童也在那里被枪击。

“你们开除了理查德·钱德勒，”塞纳托比亚社区活动家帕特里克·卢蒙巴说，“但你们没有消除种族主义文化，而这正是范德福德所滋生的。”

孩子去世后，卢蒙巴成立了塞纳托比亚问责和透明委员会，这是一个社区监督组织，要求对 6 月份的枪击事件作出解释，并倡导更好的警务工作。

他对将担任该部门临时警察局长的安吉莉卡·梅兹中尉表示了信心，称她是一位“好人”。