SENATOBIA, Miss. — The Legal Defense Fund is demanding justice and the release of police footage following the Mississippi attorney general’s determination that the fatal police shooting of 1-year-old Kohen Wiley, a Black toddler, was justified.
The determination came Monday, Oct. 19, after the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation completed its investigation into the June 14 shooting outside a Walmart in Senatobia.
The incident began when Senatobia police responded to a report of suspected shoplifting involving baby clothes and a package of diapers. Sgt. Hunter Foster responded to the call involving Wiley’s mother and her friend.
Foster, a 32-year-old white officer with eight years of law enforcement experience, fired into the women’s vehicle after it allegedly began moving toward officers. The gunfire struck and killed Wiley, who was a passenger in the vehicle.
Despite the completion of the investigation, authorities have not publicly released body-worn camera footage or other surveillance video of the shooting. No criminal charges have been filed.
In an Oct. 20 statement, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF), the nation’s first civil rights legal organization, criticized the determination and demanded the release of available footage.
Jin Hee Lee, LDF’s director of strategic initiatives, called the decision a tragic injustice and said Wiley’s family and the larger community deserve answers about the circumstances of his death.
The shooting has also drawn renewed scrutiny of allegations of racial misconduct within the Senatobia Police Department, including complaints involving Foster and the department’s former police chief.
According to Mississippi Today, Foster was the subject of a complaint alleging that he repeatedly made a racially offensive remark toward a Black colleague two days before Wiley’s killing.
On June 12, Foster allegedly entered the department’s booking room while Dexter Smith, a Black department employee, was completing paperwork.
According to Smith’s complaint, Foster repeatedly asked, “Who is this Black motherfucker back there?” in the presence of other officers.
Smith wrote in his complaint that the room went silent following the remark. He said he had never had a personal relationship or one-on-one conversations with Foster that would have made such language appropriate.
Smith resigned approximately one month after filing the complaint, citing concerns about the department’s handling of the incident and its failure to review available surveillance footage.
In an email to the department, Smith said the failure to consider available evidence and what he described as unequal treatment of workplace complaints contributed to his decision to resign.
The department also faced controversy involving former Police Chief Harold Vanderford, who was fired Sept. 1 following revelations about his use of racial slurs in text messages.
According to Mississippi Today, Vanderford repeatedly used racial slurs in private messages, including one in which he described having a “racist moment.”
In another message, Vanderford said he had “screamed” a racial slur more than 15 times and hoped his neighbors heard him.
The allegations involving Foster and Vanderford have intensified concerns raised by LDF about racial bias within the department and the circumstances surrounding Wiley’s death.
Lee said allegations of racism involving the department’s former leadership raised serious questions about whether racial bias affected officers’ conduct, including decisions to use deadly force against Black individuals suspected of nonviolent offenses.
LDF also questioned the lack of publicly available evidence surrounding the shooting, particularly given the attorney general’s determination that Foster’s actions were justified.
The organization called for greater accountability and the release of any available body-worn camera and surveillance footage to allow Wiley’s family and the public to examine the circumstances surrounding his death.
In its statement, LDF said the killing reflected broader concerns about police violence against Black communities and failures to hold law enforcement officers accountable.
Lee expressed condolences to Wiley’s family and criticized the use of deadly force in an encounter that began with allegations of shoplifting.
LDF maintained that the killing of a 1-year-old child and the decision not to pursue criminal charges warrant continued public scrutiny, particularly in light of the department’s documented controversies involving racially offensive language.
The organization continues to demand transparency and answers about the shooting that took Wiley’s life.
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