Mississippi attorney general rules cops used ‘justified’ force when they shot and killed 1yo boy during shoplifting investigation

The Mississippi attorney general has ruled that cops used “justified” force when they opened fire on a car during a shoplifting investigation and killed a one-year-old boy inside. The incident took place on 14 June outside a Walmart in Senatobia, Mississippi, where cops say they were summoned after a report that nappies and baby clothes had been stolen from the store.

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation report states that they arrived to find two women, Latoya Ferrell and Vellesiya Wiley, and a child, one-year-old Kohen Wiley, walking towards a car. They say officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but allege it was driven at them and one officer opened fire. He fatally shot one-year-old Kohen Wiley and critically injured Farrell, who was driving.

Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch has reviewed the incident and, in a short statement released on Monday, said: “In this incident, the Attorney General’s Office found the use of force was justified.”

“We will not stop fighting until this family gets the truth”

Vellesiya Wiley tells the story differently. She says neither she nor Ferrell were shoplifting and that there have been no criminal charges related to that made against them. No CCTV evidence from the store has been made public. She also adds that her son was killed after she held him up from her lap to show the cops that there was a child they were in danger of shooting.

Wiley family lawyer, Benjamin Crump, slammed the attorney general’s finding, pointing out that the state has not released the body camera footage that’d back up its side of the story: “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.”

The cop who shot the one-year-old boy had not been publicly identified, but his lawyer Martin Zummach insists that he was afraid for his life after Ferrell had “tried to kill” him. He claims: “He had no choice but to fire his weapon.”

The incident comes at a difficult time for the Senatobia Police Department. Over the summer, the text messages of Police Chief Harold Vanderford were leaked and subsequently verified. He repeatedly used the N-word to describe Black people, says he had a “racist moment” and said he drunkenly screamed the N-word at his neighbours. Vanderford was fired by the city’s Board of Aldermen in early September 2026.