US investigators have concluded that a Mississippi police officer was 'justified' in his use of force after fatally shooting a one-year-old boy during an alleged shoplifting incident at a Walmart this summer.
Kohen Kartier Wiley, one, was killed when an officer from the Senatobia Police Department opened fire on a vehicle carrying the child, his mother and his aunt. Officers said the women had been driving 'in the direction of officers' before the shooting.
Family and Attorney General respond
Kohen's mother, Vellesiya Wiley, said she lifted her child to show the officers he was with her before they opened fire. Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch wrote: 'In this incident, the Attorney General's Office found the use of force was justified.'
The Wiley family's lawyer, Benjamin Crump, has urged the state to release body camera footage from the incident. Crump said: 'How can anyone accept that conclusion when Kohen's family and the public still have not been allowed to see the body-camera footage? If the footage supports the state's decision, release it. We will not stop fighting until this family gets the truth.'
Officer's account and family's concerns
Martin Zummach, representing the police officer who fired his gun, said the driver had 'tried to kill' his client, leaving him with no choice but to fire the weapon.
Carolyn Stokes, the baby's great-grandmother, previously told WREG: 'Senatobia Police Department get away with too much stuff. I hear about it all the time, it's in the news all the time […] it's just too much.'
Last year, local media reported that a woman was tasered and tackled after police officers saw her 'illegally park in a handicapped spot'. The woman said she was dropping off her grandmother.
Police statement on transparency
The Senatobia Police Department released a statement after the deadly shooting, reading: 'We are committed to full transparency. As the investigation progresses and facts are verified, we will share as much information as possible.'
