On Sunday, June 14th, a police officer shot and killed a 1-year-old. In what was initially reported as a theft gone wrong, law enforcement officers in Senatobia, Mississippi, say they received a shoplifting call from the Walmart on Highway 51, where police pursued two women, one with a baby, as they allegedly fled to their vehicle after stealing diapers. It seems the women got into the car — the mother holding her son in the front passenger seat — and the driver attempted to leave the scene. An officer fired shots into the car. The baby, Kohen Wiley, died.
Many opinions and theories have surfaced online: They say the driver was the one who stole the diapers. But no, there was a receipt; nothing was stolen. The vehicle rammed parked cars as it left the scene, maybe. The driver may or may not have had the wheel turned toward police. The child should have been put safely in a car seat during the ordeal, other moms think. The officer fired shots as the alleged perpetrators drove away; the car wasn’t coming toward them, some say.
We do know the “perpetrators” left Walmart and drove to a nearby hospital where the 1-year-old, who had been shot in the rib cage, was pronounced dead. In the days since, that Walmart has closed and reopened as the community has demonstrated outside the building. Police have deployed tear gas on protesters there. While the shooting officer’s name had not been formally released at press time, local news organizations have independently confirmed it to be Hunter Foster, who, by some accounts, has a checkered past in law enforcement. An unnamed Mississippi officer was reportedly put on leave following the incident.
The Mississippi Department of Public Safety said in a preliminary statement, “Upon arrival, officers encountered two subjects and a juvenile child fleeing from the store into a vehicle. Officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver drove in the direction of the officers, almost striking one. An officer then discharged their weapon and the vehicle fled the scene.”
Many questions should be answered with the release of body cam footage. Walmart security cameras (inside and out) should provide video from many angles of what took place that day. Was there a receipt? Why didn’t they stop and talk to the officers? None of that matters. Deadly force isn’t necessary in a typical shoplifting situation. The officers confirmed in their own statement that they had seen the “juvenile” — they knew a baby was in that car. The way these small towns operate, we may never see the footage. But I don’t have to. If diapers were stolen, they were needed. A cop shot and killed a baby. Period.
Senatobia is about a 40-minute drive from Memphis. I spent a couple years attending community college there, tried the absolute worst Chinese buffet I’ve ever encountered there, and stopped in that exact Walmart many times. And having spent a good bit of time in these types of small towns growing up in the Mississippi Delta, what happened here is a sign of the ingrained racism these places cannot seem to escape. A white cop sees Black women (in this instance) and assumes they’re criminals. (Or simply doesn’t care.) Shoot first. Kill, kill, kill.
I’m angry. There’s so much hate in this world that there are actually people defending the cop who murdered a baby. The very same “Don’t Tread on Me” flag-waving, “abortion is killing babies” pro-lifers are saying the most ignorant things a person could say in this situation, about the mother, placing blame. You understand this young grieving mother may see these words? Your savior would be so proud.
Read a handful of these social media comments and know: We of sane mind still have a lot of work to do. All errors belong to the commenters.
“So if you bring your baby when you’re going to steal you should get away with it?”
“Well it all wouldn’t have happened if they would have complied wit the law an not try to run. An the mother is the reason ger baby is dead. She shouldn’t have held the baby up to protect her self”
“Didn’t try stealing any work boots.”
“COMPLY ITS SIMPLE”
“Im sure they started a go fund me even though the family was at fault”
“Did the interview in a bonnet and tank top … In a car and didn’t shed one tear”
I shed tears knowing there are people who think this way, who look for reasons to justify evil, who have hate in their hearts.
A baby is dead at the hands of a cop. Do we let this rampant abuse of power continue?
We’ve let the CEOs and the Elons and the Task Forces take over everything else. Are you paying attention? Are you mad enough yet?
