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By Joshua Rhett Miller
Senior Reporter
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The great-grandmother of a 1-year-old boy who was fatally shot by a police officer responding to a shoplifting call condemned the "reckless" gunfire while insisting God would deliver the family justice.
Carolyn Stokes, 72, questioned why a Mississippi officer fired into a vehicle outside a Walmart in Senatobia on Sunday, killing her 1-year-old great-grandson, Kohen Wiley.
"It was reckless, it was unnecessary to be firing into a car," Stokes told Newsweek during an interview on Wednesday. "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."
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Stokes, of Sardis, accused the officer, who has been placed on administrative leave amid an ongoing investigation, of acting impulsively while responding to the incident.
"It was just reckless, crazy," Stokes told Newsweek. "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."
Stokes then ended the brief interview.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, which is investigating the incident, said officers encountered "two subjects and a juvenile" fleeing from a Walmart into a vehicle.
"Officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver drove in the direction of the officers, almost striking one," the agency said in a statement. "An officer then discharged their weapon and the vehicle fled the scene. The subjects arrived at a local hospital where one juvenile child in the vehicle was pronounced deceased, and another subject had critical injuries. No law enforcement officers received any serious physical injury."
The 1-year-old boy, his mother and her friend were inside the vehicle during the shooting. Kohen's mother was not hurt, but her friend was seriously injured, according to local advocate Marquell Bridges, who runs the Building Bridges Coalition.
"Kohen’s mother did not steal anything and was not a witness to or accomplice to any crime," Bridges wrote on Facebook on Tuesday. "She was skipping and playing with her child Kohen to the car moments earlier not fleeing a theft."
Carlos Haynes, the boy's grandfather, has said he was eager to watch the youngster grow.
"Someone ended it all before it could even start,” Haynes told the Associated Press.
Bailey Martin, a spokesman for the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, declined to provide additional information when reached Wednesday.
"This is an open and ongoing investigation," Martin wrote in a message.
Police in Senatobia, meanwhile, have vowed to conduct a thorough investigation into the officer-involved shooting.
"We are committed to full transparency," department officials wrote on Facebook on Sunday. "As the investigation progresses and facts are verified, we will share as much information as possible."
City officials have acknowledged the "heartbreaking tragedy" while extending condolences to Kohen’s family.
"We understand that emotions are high and that many questions remain," Senatobia officials posted on Facebook Tuesday. "We respectfully ask our community to avoid speculation and the spread of unverified information while the investigation is underway. Please allow the investigative process to take its course so that the facts — not rumors or assumptions — guide our understanding of this tragic event."
Prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Kohen's family, said the child died because police officers opened fire in a crowded parking lot.
"Kohen Wiley was a baby," Crump told Newsweek in a statement. "His mother, who has not been charged with any crime, says she was trying to communicate to officers that there was a baby in the car. They fired anyway, leading to the death of an innocent 1-year-old. We intend to seek justice for baby Kohen and the life that was stolen from him."
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