A police officer in Mississippi has resigned after he fatally shot a 1-year-old boy while responding to an alleged shoplifting call.
On Friday, October 23, Senatobia Mayor Greg Graves confirmed to the Associated Press that Hunter Foster had stepped down from his position with the Senatobia Police Department. The decision came after the Mississippi Attorney General’s office cleared Foster of criminal wrongdoing following a months-long investigation into the death of Kohen Wiley.
The state previously released videos of the fatal shooting that took place at a Walmart parking lot in Senatobia on June 14. The videos included Foster’s body-worn camera footage.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Kohen’s family, told AP that the footage shows that the bullet that killed the boy came from the side of the car. He disputed claims that Foster was in imminent danger when he started shooting, and Crump has called for the federal government to investigate the incident.
“Officer Foster’s resignation is hardly a step toward accountability, and it is certainly not justice,” Crump said. “Turning in a badge does not erase responsibility for taking a life, and it will not end our fight for justice for Kohen and his family.”
The boy’s family has called for Foster to lose his police officer certification, but the Mississippi Department of Public Safety spokesperson Alex Gibert confirmed on Friday that he is still a certified police officer.
The fatal incident took place when authorities received a call about an alleged shoplifter at the Walmart location. Officers then reported to the scene, where they encountered two adults and a child fleeing from the store into a vehicle.
Officers then tried to stop the vehicle, “but the driver drove in the direction of the officers, almost striking one.”
Foster shot at the vehicle as it drove away. The vehicle then went to a hospital, and Kohen was pronounced dead. Authorities said that another individual in the vehicle was also critically injured from the shooting.
In the newly released videos, Kohen’s mother, Vellesiya Wiley, was seen holding her son as she and her friend ran across the parking lot and entered the vehicle. Five officers had their guns drawn as they approached the car, and the car reversed away before it crashed into a nearby parked car. The officers then yelled at the car to stop, but the car accelerated forward and Foster moved in front of it with his gun drawn.
The car’s wheels turned away from Foster and he appeared to put his hands on the hood before he jumped away. He then fired his gun and shattered the window of the front passenger side, where Kohen’s mother held him on her lap. The car then drove away and managed to flee the scene.
Neither Vellesiya nor her friend have been charged in the case.
After Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch announced that Foster was “justified” in using deadly force, the Wiley family called for the officer to be held accountable for the boy’s death.
“A 1-year-old baby was shot and killed by a police officer, and now the state of Mississippi says that use of force was justified,” Crump said. “We will not stop fighting until this family gets the truth.”
