Police used 'justified' force in fatal shooting of one-year-old, says Mississippi attorney general
The boy was sitting in his mum's lap in the passenger seat of a car that police say was allegedly being driven at officers.
Police used “justified” force in the fatal shooting of a one-year-old, Mississippi attorney general says
Mississippi police acted with “justified” force when they fired at a car during a shoplifting probe, killing a one-year-old boy inside, the state’s attorney general has determined.
Kohen Wiley was killed in June while seated on his mother’s lap in the passenger seat of a car that police say was being driven toward officers in the city of Senatobia.
Officials said they had responded to a report that nappies and baby clothes were allegedly stolen.
His mother has denied those claims. Neither she nor the vehicle’s driver has been charged with any crime. On Monday, a lawyer for the Wiley family condemned the attorney general’s conclusions and urged the release of video from the incident.
Police were dispatched to a Walmart on 14 June after a report that baby supplies had allegedly been stolen. According to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, officers arrived and saw two women and a child walking toward a car.
Officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but it was allegedly driven at one of them, nearly hitting an officer. One officer then opened fire, fatally striking the boy and critically wounding the driver, Latoya Ferrell.
Kohen’s mother, Vellesiya Wiley, has denied that she or Ferrell were stealing and said she lifted her son from her lap to show officers he was there before he was struck by gunfire.
“In this incident, the Attorney General’s Office found the use of force was justified,” Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch said in a brief statement on Monday.
Police have not released any footage from the shooting, including body-camera video or CCTV recordings from the parking lot.
“If the footage supports the state’s decision, release it,” he continued. “We will not stop fighting until this family gets the truth.”
Martin Zummach, a lawyer for the officer who fired the shots, told the Associated Press that the driver had “tried to kill” his client.
“He had no choice but to fire his weapon,” Zummach said.
The death, which occurred on the Juneteenth US holiday, which marks the end of slavery in the US, sparked protests in Senatobia.
Protesters have claimed race was a factor in the investigation. Kohen and both women are black, while the officer who fired the shots is reportedly white.
Last month, the city fired its white police chief after newspapers uncovered text messages showing him repeatedly using racial slurs.