1-year-old boy killed in Mississippi police shooting, family disputes account

Kohen Kartier Wiley was laid to rest with a stuffed Bluey beside his small casket, while his family still pressed for a clear accounting of why a 1-year-old was shot in a Walmart parking lot in Senatobia, Mississippi. The child, just months from turning 2, was killed on June 14, 2026.

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation's account is that officers encountered two adults and a juvenile child fleeing the store into a vehicle, then tried to stop the car. One officer opened fire after the driver allegedly drove toward officers. The officer has not been publicly identified and has been placed on administrative leave.

Kohen’s mother, Vellesiya Wiley, disputes that account. She said she was in the passenger seat and lifted her son up to show officers he was inside the car. The family says no theft occurred and that a witness saw two women leave the store, one carrying diapers and one carrying the infant. Ben Crump, the civil rights attorney representing the family, wants an independent autopsy and the release of video evidence so they can verify the facts of the entry and exit wounds and get the “full story.” The family hoped to have preliminary autopsy results by July 1, 2026, after the funeral.

In Senatobia, about 40 miles from Memphis, Tennessee, more than 200 people gathered across from Senatobia City Hall on June 16. Later that day, police in gas masks used tear gas on protesters in the Walmart parking lot. That same evening, the mayor and the Senatobia Board of Aldermen placed the officer on administrative leave.

She has said the shooting left her with panic attacks, and at the funeral she drew the day back to the last moments with her son: “I watched my baby take his first breath, and I watched my baby take his last breath.” Organizers also planned a June 27 march in Senatobia calling for accountability.