A Mississippi cop resigned after newly released body-camera footage showed him firing into a moving vehicle, killing a 1-year-old boy who was sitting in the front passenger seat with his mother.
Sgt. Hunter Foster’s resignation was confirmed Friday, October 23, by Senatobia Mayor Greg Graves, according to reports from CBS News and the Associated Press. The development comes just days after Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch announced that investigators determined Foster’s use of deadly force was justified in the June shooting.
The child, identified as Kohen Wiley, was killed during an encounter outside a Walmart in Senatobia, Mississippi, on June 14. The incident began when officers responded to a report involving alleged shoplifting.
Now that the footage has been made public, the circumstances surrounding the toddler’s death are receiving renewed attention, with his family continuing to challenge the state’s findings and call for further investigation.
According to footage released by the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, officers were alerted to two women leaving Walmart and ran toward the parking lot as the women entered a vehicle.
Kohen was inside the car with his mother, Vellesiya Wiley, who was sitting in the front passenger seat. Her friend, Latoya Ferrell, was driving.
Authorities said officers were responding to an alleged shoplifting incident involving diapers and baby clothing. However, Wiley has disputed the allegations, and neither she nor Ferrell had been charged with shoplifting, according to reports.
The bodycam footage shows officers approaching the vehicle and repeatedly shouting commands for the driver to stop. The car then reverses, strikes another parked vehicle, and moves forward as officers surround it.
Foster, who was positioned near the front passenger side of the vehicle, fired his weapon as the car moved.
Three shots were fired from Foster’s weapon, according to reporting by Action News 5. The gunfire struck the vehicle, injuring Ferrell and killing little Kohen, who was being held by his mother.
The women subsequently drove away from the parking lot, and Kohen was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The encounter unfolded within seconds, and the released footage has become a central part of the public debate over whether the officer’s actions were necessary.
Foster’s attorney, Martin Zummach, has defended his client’s actions, arguing that the officer faced an immediate threat from the moving vehicle.
In a statement reported, Zummach said the driver was attempting to kill the officers and maintained that Foster had no choice but to fire his weapon.
The state investigation reached a similar conclusion regarding the use of force. On October 19, Attorney General Lynn Fitch announced that investigators found insufficient evidence of criminal conduct to bring the case before a grand jury.
The attorney general’s decision meant that Foster would not face state criminal prosecution over the shooting, based on the investigation’s findings.
However, the decision has done little to settle the dispute surrounding the toddler’s death.
Kohen’s mother has disputed the claim that Ferrell deliberately drove toward officers. She has also described trying to alert officers that her young son was inside the vehicle.
Attorneys representing the Wiley family have questioned whether deadly force was justified and raised concerns about the direction from which the fatal bullet was fired.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents the family, said an independent autopsy commissioned by the family indicated that Kohen was shot from the side of the vehicle. The family’s legal team argues that this finding raises questions about the official account that the vehicle was moving toward Foster when he fired.
The family has called for additional accountability, including a federal investigation into the shooting. Its attorneys have also called for Foster to lose his law enforcement certification.
The state’s findings and the family’s objections reflect two sharply different interpretations of the same fatal encounter.
Foster’s resignation marks a significant development in a case that has drawn national attention, but it does not resolve the outstanding questions raised by Kohen’s family.
The resignation was confirmed by Senatobia’s mayor on Friday, following the release of the body-camera footage and the attorney general’s decision not to pursue criminal charges.
For Kohen’s relatives, the central issue remains whether the deadly shooting could have been prevented and whether further authorities should review the officer’s actions.
The family’s legal team has indicated that it intends to continue pushing for a federal investigation.
As the controversy continues, the case has renewed questions about police responses to alleged shoplifting incidents, the use of deadly force against moving vehicles, and the protection of innocent passengers caught in dangerous encounters.
Kohen was just 1 year old when his life ended in the Walmart parking lot. His death has left his family seeking answers while officials maintain that the officer’s actions were justified under the circumstances.
For now, Foster has resigned, state prosecutors have declined to bring criminal charges, and Kohen’s family is continuing its fight for further scrutiny of the shooting.
Wow 😳 Newly body camera footage released from Darkhorse Press of the events that led to the officer-involved shooting death of 1-year-old Kohen Wiley. https://t.co/kFk77BzlWz
— streetaddictz.net (@streetaddictz) October 21, 2026
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