Follow-Up: Bodycam Video Released in Fatal Police Shooting of 1-Year-Old in Mississippi; Family Calls It "Unjustified," Lawyers Say Bullet Entered From Side of Vehicle

SENATOBIA, Miss. — Days after state officials cleared the officer of wrongdoing, the Mississippi Department of Public Safety on Oct. 22 released body-camera footage and a heavily redacted

incident report in the fatal police shooting of 1-year-old Kohen Wiley. The boy's family, after viewing the footage, said it shows the shooting was not justified.

Wiley's relatives, joined by civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and Van Turner, reviewed the footage before state authorities publicly released the videos on Oct. 22. The release came a day after parts of the footage were leaked online through local media outlets.

Wiley's maternal grandmother, Veronica Roberson, said at a news conference on Oct. 22 that both the leak and the way the family learned of the state's decision clearing the officer were "slaps in the face," leaving relatives feeling they had been "robbed" of the chance to view the footage together as planned.

"The word 'justified' has haunted me," Roberson said. "No one reached out to the family. No courtesy ... Five officers with guns drawn at a car with two women and a baby. There's no justification for that."

The shooting occurred on June 14, when Senatobia police Sgt. Hunter Foster fired into a vehicle in a Walmart parking lot, killing Wiley and wounding another passenger. Earlier this week, the Mississippi Attorney General's Office announced that its review found Foster's use of force was justified and that he would not face criminal charges. Officers had responded to reports of suspected shoplifting at the Walmart in Senatobia, about 40 miles south of Memphis.

According to USA Today's account of the footage, the state released redacted videos including three officers' body-worn cameras and Walmart surveillance: five Senatobia officers were inside a Walmart security room reviewing surveillance footage when a store employee alerted them that "two people are running." Officers rushed toward a gray Ford Fusion sedan in the parking lot. The vehicle began to move as officers approached, reversing into a parked vehicle; officers converged around the sedan from multiple sides. The car paused briefly before accelerating forward and turning left; the video appears to show Foster place a hand on the hood before firing into the vehicle.

The incident report states that officers from the Tate County Sheriff's Office and Senatobia Police Department had initially responded regarding "an unknown male that was attempting to sexually harass customers," and were reviewing store footage when employees said people who had committed "fraudulent transactions" were leaving. The report says the driver rear-ended another car, then "placed the vehicle in drive and sped toward the officers," at which point one officer fired. The car Wiley was in then hit another vehicle and drove out of the parking lot. Wiley was later pronounced dead at a local hospital; another passenger had critical injuries and was airlifted to another hospital, while a third passenger was uninjured.

The family's attorneys disputed the official account. "The video corroborates what was stated when we revealed that autopsy, the fact that baby Kohen Wiley was shot from the side, from right to left," Crump said. "We continue to stand on the fact that the shot from the side of the vehicle was not justified." Crump called the police response "excessive" and "reckless," noting the allegations involved the theft of diapers and that no one had been charged in connection with the suspected shoplifting. Roberson added: "You shot my grandbaby from the side of the car. How are you in danger if you on the passenger side of the car, the car is going to the left?"

The family's attorneys said they plan to seek a federal review of the case by the U.S. Department of Justice and FBI.

The city of Senatobia announced on June 16 that Foster had been placed on leave; it was unclear whether he was still employed as of Oct. 22. Turner said at the news conference that Foster had resigned, though city officials did not respond to a request for comment from the Memphis Commercial Appeal. The Mississippi Department of Public Safety declined to comment further. Wiley would have turned 2 years old on Nov. 1, Crump said.

Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)

Photo: 图：佩戴执法记录仪的警员（资料图）。照片：Utility Inc（Pixabay），CC0，经Wikimedia Commons。Photo: A police officer wearing a body camera (file photo). Photo: Utility Inc via Pixabay, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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