Kohen Wiley

Jun 14

Written By M T

1 year old · Senatobia, Mississippi · June 14, 2026

Who he was

Kohen Kartier Wiley was named by his maternal grandmother, Veronica Roberson, who was also there when he was born. "That baby meant everything to me. He's all I had: my first and only grandchild. I took his mother to the hospital to deliver him. And I named him… what these people took from us can never be replaced," she said. He was months away from his second birthday. His family had looked forward to fishing trips with grandpa, getting to know his cousins, and his first day of school. He was placed inside a small casket lined with images of Bluey, the blue cartoon dog he loved. His mother Vellesiya Wiley said of her son in one sentence: "I watched my baby take his first breath, and I watched my baby take his last breath."

What happened

On the afternoon of June 14, 2026, at approximately 2:05 p.m., officers from the Senatobia Police Department and the Tate County Sheriff's Office responded to a shoplifting call at the Walmart in Senatobia, Mississippi. A witness saw two women exit the store: one carrying a single box of diapers, and one carrying the infant child. The women got into a silver sedan. Kohen was in the car with his mother Vellesiya, who was in the passenger seat holding him.

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation stated that officers attempted to stop the vehicle, with one opening fire when the driver allegedly drove toward them. Kohen was killed and the adult driver — a family friend — was critically injured.

Vellesiya Wiley directly contests the official account. "I raised my baby up trying to show them that he was in the car," she said. "They tried to say that she forcefully was trying to drive and hit them, but they was all on the right side and she was driving towards the left." She said she believes her friend paid for the diapers she was carrying. Another witness told reporters she saw the car driving away with police officers chasing after it on foot just before hearing gunshots. The family denies any shoplifting took place.

Policing expert Ian Adams, who teaches criminal justice at the University of South Carolina, said regardless of the circumstances, the officer should not have fired at the car. Attorney Ben Crump put it plainly: "Where is the policy on shooting at a moving car — when you know there is a baby in that vehicle? Most police departments across America train their officers not to shoot into a moving vehicle."

Contested record

The family contests the shoplifting allegation, the claim that the driver drove toward officers, and the decision to fire into a vehicle with a baby inside. The Mississippi Department of Public Safety's description of Kohen in its initial statement as a "juvenile child fleeing" drew fierce condemnation. "He was a one-year-old infant baby. He was not a juvenile," Crump said at a press conference.

Kohen's death did not occur in a vacuum. In 2023, a Senatobia officer was fired for his role in arresting a 10-year-old Black boy who had urinated in a parking lot — that family settled a federal lawsuit with the city earlier this year. A separate incident involved an officer threatening a Black woman with a Taser and pulling her from her car over a handicapped parking space dispute — in the same Walmart parking lot where Kohen was shot. Civil rights attorney Carlos Moore, who has represented multiple Senatobia residents, said: "There is a culture there that they are above the law — just because they wear a uniform."

Bernice King, daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., said: "We are treating items on a shelf as more valuable than a child."

The case has drawn comparisons to the 2023 killing of Ta'Kiya Young, a pregnant Black woman shot through her car windshield by Columbus, Ohio police during a shoplifting response. The officer in that case was acquitted.

Legal process

June 14, 2026 — Kohen Kartier Wiley, 1, shot and killed by a Senatobia police officer in the parking lot of the Senatobia Walmart during a shoplifting call. His mother was holding him in the passenger seat. The driver, a family friend, critically injured. Officer unnamed. Investigation turned over to Mississippi Bureau of Investigation.

June 16, 2026 — Approximately 200 community members protest outside Senatobia City Hall. Mississippi Department of Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell promises transparent investigation outside the Tate County Courthouse. Police teargas protesters who gather at the Walmart that evening.

June 17, 2026 — Officer placed on administrative leave by the City of Senatobia. Name not released.

June 22, 2026 — Family press conference at Gospel Temple Church of God in Christ. Vellesiya Wiley speaks publicly for the first time. Attorneys Ben Crump and Van Turner demand immediate release of body camera footage. MBI confirms five agents assigned to the investigation.

June 27, 2026 — Funeral held at West Gilmore Church of Christ in Senatobia. Kohen buried with a stuffed Bluey. Service open to the public.

As of June 28, 2026 — MBI investigation ongoing. Officer unnamed and unindicted. Body camera footage withheld. No charges filed. Civil lawsuit anticipated.