*Two Mississippi police officials have resigned following the fatal shooting of 1-year-old Kohen Wiley, but the child’s family says their departures are no substitute for justice.
Senatobia police Sgt. Hunter Foster, who fired the fatal shots outside a Walmart on June 14, resigned after state prosecutors determined his use of deadly force was justified.
Interim Police Chief Angelica Maze also stepped down from her leadership position, although she will remain with the department as a lieutenant.
The resignations followed the release of body-camera footage showing the confrontation involving Kohen, his mother and another woman.
Now, civil rights attorney Ben Crump and the family are demanding a federal investigation and action to prevent Foster from serving as a police officer elsewhere.
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Officer Resigns After State Clears Him
According to Action News 5, Foster fired three shots into the vehicle after officers responded to a reported shoplifting incident at the Walmart.
Kohen was in the arms of his mother, Vellesiya Wiley, in the front passenger seat. The driver was also wounded.
Authorities maintain that the driver moved the vehicle toward officers, creating an immediate threat.
Wiley disputes that account and says she raised her son to alert officers that a child was inside.
As EURweb previously reported, Wiley denied involvement in the alleged shoplifting and challenged the police account.
The Mississippi Attorney General’s Office found insufficient evidence of criminal conduct to present the case to a grand jury.
“I’m having a difficult time understanding the word justified. I just don’t understand,” Kohen’s grandmother, LaSandra Williams, told Action News 5.
Family Demands Federal Investigation
Crump insists Foster’s resignation does not resolve the family’s concerns.
“Officer Foster’s resignation is hardly a step toward accountability, and it is certainly not justice,” Crump said in a statement reported by Action News 5.
The family’s attorneys want the Justice Department to investigate the shooting and are seeking Foster’s permanent decertification as a law enforcement officer.
Foster’s attorney, Martin Zummach, maintains that his client did not know a baby was inside the vehicle and believed officers were in danger.
Meanwhile, Maze’s departure adds another leadership change to the department. Former Police Chief Harold Vanderford was fired in September following reports that he used racist slurs in private text messages.
Questions Remain After Kohen Wiley’s Death
The shooting has remained under scrutiny since June, when EURweb covered Kohen’s death and the conflicting accounts surrounding the encounter.
An Action News 5 investigation also found that Foster had been named in two previous excessive-force lawsuits. Both cases were dismissed without findings of liability.
For Kohen’s family, the central issue remains unchanged: A 1-year-old child is dead, the officer who fired the fatal shots has not been criminally charged, and his resignation does not answer their demands for accountability.
Whether federal authorities will open a separate investigation remains unresolved.
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