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By Khaleda Rahman
National Correspondent
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Police body camera footage of the fatal shooting of a 1-year-old boy by an officer responding to a shoplifting call in Mississippi could be released within months, authorities told Newsweek.
The fatal shooting of Kohen Wiley on Sunday has ignited tensions in the small town of Senatobia, sparking protests and calls for transparency.
It unfolded after Senatobia police responded to a shoplifting call at a Walmart on Sunday, where they found two women and a child leaving the store, getting into a car and driving away.
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The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation (MBI), which is investigating the shooting, said officers “attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver drove in the direction of the officers, almost striking one. An officer then discharged their weapon and the vehicle fled the scene.”
Kohen’s mother has disputed the shoplifting claim and said her friend was not driving toward the officers as she called for body camera and surveillance footage of the shooting to be released, while an attorney for Wiley’s family has said the footage would show “excessive force” by police.
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Mississippi Department of Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell has said video of the shooting will not be released until the MBI’s investigation is complete.
Bailey Martin, a spokesperson for the department, told Newsweek that such investigations typically require six to nine months to complete but that this case has been made a “priority.”
"We cannot put a specific timeframe on these types of investigations, as each case is unique and requires a thorough investigation,” Martin wrote in an email.
“However, we typically aim to complete investigations within 6–9 months and this case has been made a priority. Once MBI's investigation is complete, the findings will be turned over to the Attorney General’s Office. The file may be obtained through a public records request once the investigation is complete.”
A records request filed on Thursday by Newsweek for a copy of the bodycam footage from the officer who fired the fatal shot was denied due to the ongoing investigation.
The Senatobia Police Department said in a statement on Tuesday that it was "committed to full transparency. As the investigation progresses and facts are verified, we will share as much information as possible."
The community will continue to pressure authorities to release that evidence sooner, Marquell Bridges, the president and founder of an advocacy group called the Building Bridges Coalition who has been helping the Wiley family, told Newsweek.
"The people and the Building Bridges Coalition are going to continue to escalate our efforts and build and intensify our boycott and pressure all around the city on the police, Walmart and any other economic base that would encourage them to move faster and answer our demands," he said.
The officer who fired at the vehicle has not been identified but was placed on administrative leave, as is standard practice, officials confirmed on Tuesday.
Wiley’s Mother Shares Her Account
Kohen’s mother, Vellesiya Wiley, said she was leaving the Walmart with her son and her friend when her friend was stopped by police.
"I kept walking because it had nothing to do with me," she said in a video posted on X on Wednesday by civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the family.
Wiley said her friend then got into the vehicle. As her friend began to reverse the vehicle, she lifted up her son “trying to show them that he was in the car” because police officers drew their guns.
"By the time I sat my baby back down, it was like three or four shots. One of the shots hit him in his rib cage," she said.
Other shots hit her friend in the arm and thigh, she said.
She said they drove to a hospital, where her son was pronounced dead. She said she was not able to see his body until it was returned from Jackson, Mississippi.
She disputed the shoplifting claim, saying in the video that she believes her friend paid for the diapers she was carrying.
Wiley also said her friend was not driving toward the officers because they were “all on the right side and she was driving towards the left.”
She added that she has not been charged with any offense.
Attorney Says Bodycam Will Show ‘Excessive Force’
Van Turner, who is representing Kohen's family alongside Crump, said police bodycam footage from Sunday's incident in Senatobia will ultimately vindicate Kohen's mother and her friend.
"What you’re going to see is this vehicle was not a threat and that that was excessive force," Turner told Newsweek.
"The threat is neutralized, and you’re still using your firearms, and they’re trying to drive away from you? That’s the very definition of excessive force. We’re demanding transparency, and we hope we get it.”
Turner noted that Senatobia Police were quick to release video from a separate incident involving a police officer and a woman at the same Walmart in May 2025. The agency could expedite the release of the video to counter the allegations of excessive force, Turner said.
"They need to release it," he added.
Crump wrote on X that the officer being place on leave is “not accountability! Join us in demanding the release of all body camera and surveillance footage and a full, transparent investigation into this heartbreaking tragedy!”
Kohen’s Great-Grandma Condemns ‘Reckless’ Shooting
Kohen's great-grandma Carolyn Stokes, 72, previously told Newsweek the shooting was “reckless."
"It was unnecessary to be firing into a car," she said. "Why did you draw your weapon on people that were potential shoplifters? Why did you not go into the store? Because they were rushing from the store? They could've just been in a hurry.”
"It was just reckless, crazy,” she added. “I might as well say he had killing on his mind. I'm not a psychiatrist or anything like that, but it's weird and crazy…God has the last say; he will bring this all to the forefront in due time.”
Calls for Accountability
The shooting is the latest in a series of troubling encounters with police that have outraged the Senatobia community in recent years.
Bridges said Kohen’s death was “just the breaking point” after years of problematic interactions between Black residents and police.
"There's a long history of racism, over-policing, and brutality in Senatobia," he told Newsweek. "Everyone is outraged, saddened, and heartbroken for Kohen Kartier Wiley."
Newsweek has contacted the Senatobia Police Department via email on Friday.
Bridges pointed to an encounter last year in which an officer threatened Breshari Faulkner with a Taser, pulled her from her car onto the ground and arrested her during a confrontation over a handicapped parking space in the same Walmart lot where Kohen was shot.
In 2023, a Senatobia officer was fired for his role in arresting a 10-year-old Black boy who had urinated in a different parking lot. The boy’s family settled a federal lawsuit with the city earlier this year.
“There is a culture there that they are above the law—just because they wear a uniform,” said civil rights attorney Carlos Moore, who has represented the 10-year-old boy and others accusing the department of misconduct.
Activists have also pointed to Kohen’s death as another example of a Black life lost over something of nominal value—in this case, allegedly stolen diapers.
“We are treating items on a shelf as more valuable than a child. That is not just bad policing; it is a moral collapse,” Bernice King, the daughter of civil rights icon Martin Luther King, Jr., said in a statement posted to Instagram on Wednesday.
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“In the name of ‘law and order,’ a child was killed and family was shattered over items that could be restocked, written off, and replaced… Our charge is clear: until the sacredness of human life is the starting point of every police encounter, we must demand changes in training and work unrelentingly to reform policies around police accountability.”
Mississippi Department of Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell has urged the community to be patience as the MBI conducts its investigation.
"Make no mistake, this is a very tragic situation," Tindell said during a news conference earlier this week.
"I want the public to be assured that the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation will conduct its independent investigation. We have five agents working on this case, gathering statements, gathering evidence and working diligently to prepare a file to present to the AG's office," he said.
“I would ask that the public maintain patience as much as possible and I know this is a very frustrating time, but maintain patience as this process is done."
Update 06/19/26, 11:10 a.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from Marquell Bridges, the president and founder of an advocacy group called the Building Bridges Coalition.
This article includes reporting by The Associated Press.
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