Nationwide — The family of 1-year-old Kohen Wiley is demanding accountability after a white police officer fatally shot the Black toddler in Senatobia, Mississippi. Both of his grandmothers have questioned the state’s decision to rule the shooting justified, saying they cannot understand how officers’ actions could be considered acceptable.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, Memphis attorney Van Turner, and Kohen’s relatives addressed the case during a press conference on Thursday, October 22, at Senatobia Church of Christ. The gathering came three days after the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office concluded that the officers were justified in using deadly force. According to Local Memphis, Crump said the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation showed the family footage of the shooting that morning. However, Kohen’s maternal grandmother, Veronica Robinson, said the family had already seen leaked footage and learned about the state’s decision through media reports before officials presented the video to them.
Crump condemned the officers’ actions, arguing that the shooting was excessive from the start. He questioned why they approached the vehicle with their guns drawn and said their actions put others at risk. “It is a miracle that nobody else was hit,” he said. The shooting happened on June 14, when Senatobia police responded to a Walmart over a shoplifting report involving an adult accused of stealing diapers. Kohen was inside the vehicle when the officer fired the fatal shot. Crump criticized the circumstances surrounding the toddler’s death, saying he was killed over an allegation involving diapers.
The attorney also challenged the state’s conclusion and pointed to an independent autopsy that found Kohen was shot in his right side. Although state officials have completed their own autopsy, Crump said the family stands by the independent findings. He maintained that the shot fired from the side of the vehicle was not justified. He also criticized the attorney general’s decision, arguing that it sent a troubling message about how the lives of Black children are valued. “This decision sends the message that a Black baby boy is not as valuable as the white diapers he’s wrapped in,” he said.
Turner also questioned why the city had not fired the officer who killed Kohen. He compared the situation with the city’s earlier decision to terminate a police chief accused of using racist language. He raised concerns about the officers’ training and whether they followed proper procedures, arguing that the fatal shot did not protect another officer or a member of the public. Turner also questioned whether the Tate County Sheriff’s Office had investigated the shooting. He said the family was preparing to seek intervention from the U.S. Department of Justice and other federal agencies.
Kohen’s grandmothers said they were struggling to understand how the state could consider the shooting justified. His paternal grandmother, LaSonya Williams, said the footage made the state’s conclusion difficult to accept. Robinson questioned why officers fired into a vehicle carrying two women and a baby. “You killed my grandbaby, and there’s no justice for that,” she said.