*Vellesiya Wiley is going viral and facing heavy criticism after flashing cash at the funeral of her one-year-old son, Kohen Wiley. Social media posts show the 20-year-old mother holding money and smiling during the boy’s service on June 27.
Police shot and killed Kohen on June 14 during an incident in a Walmart parking lot in Senatobia, Mississippi. Officers responded to a shoplifting call and stopped Wiley’s friend, who was accused of stealing diapers. That friend was driving the vehicle carrying Wiley and her son. Police claimed the driver drove toward them and nearly struck one officer.
At the funeral, children carried Kohen’s casket to a white, horse-drawn carriage. As SandraRose.com reports, Vellesiya and Kohen’s father rode the carriage together. X.com users slammed the pair over their “prom” attire.
One person wrote: “I have so many questions: Why are they in a horse drawn carriage? Why is she dressed like that for a funeral? Why pose with money like it’s a rap video? And most importantly, Why are they smiling and looking so happy!?”
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Another person wrote: “She’s happy, she got money and doesn’t have to raise a kid.” A third person commented: “They’re posing for prom pictures dressed in white in a horse drawn carriage…at their kid’s funeral.”
Meanwhile, Wiley says the public has the story about her son’s death backward. She appears in a video shared by attorney Ben Crump to set the record straight. Wiley says the biggest misconception involves who police were actually after.
“I kept walking because it had nothing to do with me,” she said, explaining that officers had stopped her friend over a shoplifting accusation involving diapers. “[The police] weren’t talking about me, they was talking about the driver,” she clarified.
Wiley also disputes how the shooting unfolded. Officers suggested the driver endangered them by aiming the car in their direction. Wiley says the driver steered away from officers, not toward them. “They was all on the right side and she was driving toward the left,” she said, claiming police “purposefully shot in the car.”
According to Wiley, she got into the vehicle with her son after officers engaged her friend. As police drew their weapons, she lifted Kohen so officers could see a child inside. The driver then reversed into another vehicle, and gunshots followed.
“One of the shots hit [Kohen] in his rib cage and the other shots hit [the driver] in her arm and her thigh,” Wiley explained.
Doctors pronounced Kohen dead at a hospital. The driver survived her injuries. Wiley faces no charges. Officials have not publicly identified the officer involved, but the department placed the officer on administrative leave.
MORE NEWS ON EURWEB.COM: Mother of Toddler Killed by Mississippi Police Speaks Out, Denies Shoplifting Claims
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