Bodycam footage released in Mississippi police shooting of one-year-old, family rejects justified finding

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation has released body camera footage of the fatal police shooting of one-year-old Kohen Wiley in a Walmart parking lot in Senatobia on 14 June.

The release of the video on Thursday came after the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office announced on Monday the findings of its investigation, concluding that the use of force by the Senatobia Police Department was “justified”. The probe was conducted by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation (MBI).

Members of Kohen’s family, who viewed the footage privately before its formal release, spoke out during a press conference on Thursday, criticising the state attorney general’s decision not to press charges against police.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents the family, said that after viewing the footage, the family continues to believe that the officer’s actions were “excessive” and “not justified”. He said the family observed that this was excessive from the very start.

Crump added that they are troubled in their souls that a one-year-old was taken from them in such a way, saying that baby Kohen’s life mattered.

Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves defended the investigation and police during a press conference on Wednesday, saying that while he had not viewed the body camera video himself, he has trust in the MBI and the state attorney general’s office. He described the incident as absolutely tragic and called for prayers for the loss of life.

Reeves added, however, that investigators found it was very clear that the driver of the vehicle attempted to run over the policeman. Crump argued that the officer could have moved out of the way instead of shooting and called for a federal investigation into the incident.

According to MBI, officers who responded to a shoplifting call on 14 June at the Walmart in Senatobia encountered two adults allegedly fleeing from the store with a child and running into a vehicle. In a redacted report released on Thursday, the bureau said that as officers attempted to stop the vehicle from fleeing, one officer opened fire as the driver sped toward the officers.

The child was killed and an adult was critically injured, the report said. According to Crump, the two adults accused of stealing diapers were Kohen’s mother, Vellesiya Wiley, and a friend, but they were never charged in the incident.

Crump said Kohen was killed over an allegation of shoplifting diapers, and even if someone is charged, shoplifting diapers is a misdemeanour that does not warrant the death penalty, and certainly does not warrant the death of one-year-old baby Kohen.

Veronica Roberson, Kohen’s maternal grandmother, said she was disgusted while watching the body camera footage. She said she feels they have been done wrong, and described an officer coming from inside Walmart, not knowing what was going on, and running out with guns drawn, saying there was no justification for that.

The videos released by MBI on Thursday include multiple vantage points, including footage from several body-worn police cameras and surveillance footage from the Walmart. In the surveillance video, a man who appears to work at Walmart confronts two women — one holding a baby — as they exit, and the women then run in the parking lot towards a parked vehicle. Body camera footage then shows officers racing into the parking lot, the vehicle backing out and into a parked vehicle, and, as officers call for the driver to stop, the vehicle driving toward the officers before one officer fires multiple shots.

After the shots were fired, the car hit a parked vehicle before stopping for a moment and then driving off as officers chased on foot. The officer who fired was placed on administrative leave pending the investigation, police told ABC News. Asked about his employment status on Thursday, police did not respond. Senatobia interim police chief Angelica Maze thanked the public for patience during the investigation in a statement on Tuesday and said everyone’s right to express views peacefully is respected.