The Mississippi officer who shot and killed 1-year-old Kohen Wiley during a shoplifting chase has resigned, and so has the town’s interim police chief, days after the state ruled the shooting justified.
Story Highlights
- Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch ruled on Monday, October 19, that the officer’s use of force was justified and filed no charges.
- The Senatobia board accepted Sgt. Hunter Foster’s resignation on Wednesday, October 21, the mayor said.
- The state released Foster’s body-camera video on Thursday, October 22.
- Interim Police Chief Angelica Maze’s resignation was confirmed on Friday, October 23.
- The shots came through the passenger-side window, and an independent autopsy paid for by the family found Kohen was shot from the side of the car, not the front, the family’s lawyer said.
State Ruling: Force Justified, No Criminal Charges
Kohen was shot on Sunday, June 14, in a Walmart parking lot in Senatobia, a small town in north Mississippi. Officers had chased his mother and her friend out of the store over an alleged theft of diapers, a misdemeanor, or minor crime. Kohen was sitting on his mother’s lap in the front passenger seat. The state found the shooting justified because the driver drove toward officers, and video shows the car striking one of them. Foster’s lawyer, Martin Zummach, said the driver “tried to kill” his client and that Foster had “no choice” but to fire.
The attorney general’s review was based on an investigation by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, the state agency that looks into police shootings. Fitch said there was “insufficient evidence of any criminal conduct to present this case to a grand jury,” the panel that decides whether a person should be charged. Governor Tate Reeves said he trusts the bureau and the attorney general’s office. He said it was “very clear” the driver “attempted to run over the policeman,” though he said he had not watched the video himself.
What The Video Shows
The footage released on Thursday, October 22, includes Foster’s body camera and Walmart security video. It shows a store worker telling officers that “two women are running.” Officers run after them as they get into a car. The officers stand in front of the car with guns drawn and shout “Stop the car.” The driver backs out, drives toward the officers, hits one, strikes a parked car and drives off.
All three shots came from Foster’s gun, according to reports. At least one hit the windshield, and the others came through the passenger-side window. The shots hurt the driver and killed Kohen. Kohen’s mother said she raised her baby up “trying to show them that he was in the car.” Several officers drew their guns, but only Foster fired.
The Family’s Response
Civil rights lawyer Ben Crump, who represents the Wiley family, said officers “never ever should have drawn their weapons” over a misdemeanor shoplifting call. He said the driver was trying to flee, not hit anyone, and that police could have taken down the car’s license plate and investigated later. “The shot that killed one-year-old baby Kohen Wiley was not justified,” Crump said. “He was not in harm’s way when he shot from the side.” A first independent autopsy paid for by the family found Kohen was shot from the side of the car, not the front, Crump said.
Crump called Foster’s resignation “hardly a step toward accountability.” The family’s lawyers want Foster decertified, which means stripped of the state license he needs to work as an officer. Lawyer Van Turner said he will ask the U.S. Department of Justice to open its own investigation. Kohen’s grandmother, Veronica Roberson, said she was “disgusted” by the video. “I feel like we have been done wrong,” she said.
Two Resignations In One Week
Mayor Greg Graves confirmed that the board of aldermen, the town council, accepted Foster’s resignation on Wednesday, October 21. He declined to say whether Foster was asked to step down. Foster had been placed on administrative leave, kept off duty, while the state investigated.
Two days later, on Friday, October 23, the mayor confirmed that interim chief Angelica Maze had also resigned after a special board meeting. Maze had led the department only since early September, after the former chief was fired. City officials have not said why she left, and she will stay on with the department. Lamorris Hampton, who had been second in command, was named interim chief.
Sources:
reason.com, abcnews.com, kttc.com, cnn.com, people.com, mississippifreepress.org
