Mississippi Cop Who Shot 1-Year-Old Kohen Wiley Resigns After State Calls Shooting 'Justified'

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Pauzé, J. (2026, October 23). Mississippi Cop Who Shot 1-Year-Old Kohen Wiley Resigns After State Calls Shooting 'Justified'. Reason. https://reason.com/2026/10/23/mississippi-cop-who-shot-1-year-old-kohen-wiley-resigns-after-state-calls-shooting-justified/

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Reason · collected 2026-10-23 · by Josh Pauzé
Content note This article describes violence described in detail.

Quick Summary

Sgt. Hunter Foster, a Senatobia police officer who shot and killed 1-year-old Kohen Wiley in February, resigned following an investigation that declared the shooting justified. Attorney General Lynn Fitch's declaration came after leaked body camera footage showed a more complex incident than initially reported, with the car hitting officers before they fired their weapons. Following Foster’s resignation, Ben Crump, attorney for the Wiley family, argued that the shots from the side of the vehicle were not justified and put Kohen in harm’s way unnecessarily.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-23, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch declared on October 21, 2026, that a June 14 shooting by a Senatobia police officer was "justified," despite protests demanding accountability for the death of Kohen Wiley, a one-year-old boy. The incident occurred when officers fired into a car fleeing from Walmart after an alleged shoplifting; Kohen was in the back seat with his mother and another woman. Bodycam footage, released on October 21, showed five police officers chasing down the vehicle as it reversed and nearly hit an officer before accelerating toward them. One officer then opened fire, striking Kohen fatally.

The shooting prompted a resignation from Hunter Foster, the Senatobia police sergeant involved in the incident, on October 23. The video contradicts initial statements by Fitch and officials who ruled the action justified, leading to renewed calls for an investigation into the use of lethal force during a misdemeanor response. Kohen's family lawyer, Ben Crump, described the shooting as "excessive from the very start," emphasizing that shoplifting does not warrant such deadly consequences.

Written for “Police Shooting Of One-Year-Old Justified” on 2026-10-24, grounded in this article and the 13 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Police Shooting Of One-Year-Old Justified
Crime & Law · 14 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 12% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Mississippi AG says police shooting that killed 1-year-old was ‘justified’ different event · 95%
NBC News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 23 📰 publisher trust 95
“Article A describes the initial announcement by the Mississippi Attorney General that the shooting was justified, while Article B covers a subsequent development with the officer's resignation.”
Bodycam footage released in police shooting of Miss. 1-year-old as family speaks out different event · 95%
ABC News (US)
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 7% hedged 3 of 45 📰 publisher trust 59
“While both articles discuss the shooting incident involving a 1-year-old and its investigation, Article B focuses on the officer's resignation following the state's ruling that the shooting was justified, which is a different specific event than the release of body camera footage mentioned in Article A.”
Bodycam clip released in fatal police shooting of Mississippi one-year-old same event · 95%
BBC News
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 22 📰 publisher trust 69
“Both articles describe the resignation of Sgt. Hunter Foster after the attorney general declared the shooting of one-year-old Kohen Wiley justified, and mention the release of bodycam footage related to the same specific incident.”
Family of 1-year-old killed by police speak out: "That's no justification" different event · 85%
CBS News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 33% hedged 1 of 3 📰 publisher trust 66
“While both articles discuss the shooting incident involving a one-year-old boy and police in Mississippi, they describe different aspects of related events: Article A focuses on the family's reaction, while Article B reports on the officer's resignation following an official ruling.”
Mississippi releases video of 1-year-old’s fatal police shooting different event · 85%
Al Jazeera
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 3 📰 publisher trust 60
“Article A discusses the release of the bodycam footage and the officer being cleared of criminal wrongdoing, while Article B focuses on the officer's resignation following the state's justification of the shooting.”
Video shows moments leading up to police fatally shooting toddler different event · 80%
CBS News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 14% hedged 4 of 29 📰 publisher trust 66
“While both articles discuss the same incident involving the shooting of a toddler by police, Article A focuses on the initial details and decision not to charge the officer, while Article B reports on the officer's resignation following this decision.”
Shocking final moments of baby captured on police bodycam after his mother and aunt 'shoplifted' at Walmart then drove car at cops who opened fire different event · 80%
Daily Mail
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 40% hedged 6 of 15 📰 publisher trust 64
“While both articles describe the shooting incident involving a one-year-old boy named Kohen Wiley in Mississippi, Article B focuses on the resignation of the police officer involved and the leak of bodycam footage following the attorney general's decision, which is a later development from the original event.”
The family of a 1-year-old Mississippi boy says video shows his killing by police was not justified different event · 80%
Toronto Star
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 3 📰 publisher trust 64
“While both articles discuss the shooting of a one-year-old boy by police in Mississippi, Article A focuses on the family's response after reviewing body camera footage, while Article B reports on the officer's resignation following the state's determination that the shooting was justified.”
Bodycam shows moment Mississippi cop opens fire on fleeing ‘shoplifters,’ killing 1-year-old boy — as AG says it was ‘justified’ different event · 70%
New York Post
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 26% hedged 5 of 19 📰 publisher trust 66
“While both articles discuss the shooting incident involving a 1-year-old boy and police officer in Mississippi, Article B is reporting on the aftermath of the original incident (the officer's resignation) rather than the initial event itself.”
Mississippi A.G. Says Killing of 1-Year-Old Boy Over Stolen Diapers Was 'Justified' different event · 50%
Reason
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 17% hedged 5 of 30 📰 publisher trust 67
“While both articles discuss the shooting and ruling regarding Kohen Wiley, Article B describes a later development (the officer's resignation) rather than the initial incident.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
24
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
12%
3 of 24 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
67/100
Reason's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
14
Crime & Law
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-23 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Reason · 910 article(s) · 4 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 4 correction(s)
2026-10-02
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2026-09-26
"I Will Not Stand for Being Jerked Around … by Any Lawyer Who Practices Before Me"
2026-09-18
New Article: Landor v. Louisiana Department of Corrections: Bringing Clarity To The Necessary and Proper Clause
2026-09-05
Lawyers' Responsibility for Hallucinations in Briefs That They Sign

Who wrote this

Josh Pauzé
7 article(s) here · 0 carrying a prediction
🔮 We will not stop fighting until this family gets the truth," he added.
2026-10-20 · assertive framing · Mississippi A.G. Says Killing of 1-Year-Old Boy Over Stolen Diapers Was 'Justified'
🔮 The court "seemed to take the view that any dollar spent on other educational programs like scholarships is a dollar that could be spent on public schools instead, but that's not how budgeting works," he says.
2026-10-16 · assertive framing · Ohio Court Strikes Down a Scholarship Program That Supports More Than 100,000 Families
🔮 "Improperly used J-1 visa classifications to avoid employment obligations, exploit taxpayer-funded programs, and undermine American workers will not be tolerated."
2026-10-13 · assertive framing · No, Giving Immigrants Research Jobs Is Not Fraud​
🔮 Starting next year, school choice will be a more attainable option for many American families.
2026-10-07 · assertive framing · The Biggest Expansion of School Choice Yet Is Coming in January
🔮 As Americans face rising healthcare costs, Montana is offering a novel right-to-try program that lawmakers hope will bring relief to consumers in the state.
2026-09-18 · assertive framing · Montana Is Trying To Break the FDA's Monopoly on Experimental Treatments
🔮 The law, which will go into effect on October 1, 2027, was signed by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom last month.
2026-09-14 · mixed framing · The 'Stop Nick Shirley Act': Yet Another Anti-Doxxing Law That Chills Free Speech
Also by Josh Pauzé
Mississippi A.G. Says Killing of 1-Year-Old Boy Over Stolen Diapers Was 'Justified'
2026-10-20 · Reason
Ohio Court Strikes Down a Scholarship Program That Supports More Than 100,000 Families
2026-10-16 · Reason
No, Giving Immigrants Research Jobs Is Not Fraud​
2026-10-13 · Reason
The Biggest Expansion of School Choice Yet Is Coming in January
2026-10-07 · Reason
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 7 articles by Josh Pauzé →

Topics

Mississippi SPD Senatobia Walmart the Senatobia Police Department

Subjects

Foster PERSON · 8× Kohen PERSON · 4× Wiley PERSON · 4× Walmart ORG · 3× Mississippi GPE · 2× Hunter Foster PERSON · 1× Kohen Wiley PERSON · 1× Lynn Fitch PERSON · 1× Senatobia GPE · 1× the Senatobia Police Department ORG · 1×

Narrative

After reviewing the footage, Ben Crump, the Wiley family attorney, said during a Thursday press conference that the police officers "never ever should have drawn their weapons for a misdemeanor shoplifting allegation." "The shot from the side of the vehicle was not justified," he added.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-23
2026-10-23 · Reason
Mississippi Cop Who Shot 1-Year-Old Kohen Wiley Resigns After State Calls Shooting 'Justified' · assertive framing

Claims (24 extracted, 3 hedged)

Earlier this week, Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch said that the police shooting of 1-year-old boy Kohen Wiley in a Walmart parking lot earlier this year was a "justified" use of force. asserted
shooting → say → force
On Thursday, Sgt. Hunter Foster, the Senatobia police officer who shot Wiley, resigned from the department. asserted
who → shoot → department
Foster's resignation comes after a tumultuous week for the Mississippi attorney general's office and the Senatobia Police Department (SPD). asserted
resignation → come → office
After Finch ruled the shooting a justified use of force on Monday, DarkHorse Press leaked footage of the body camera video from officers at the scene, along with Walmart surveillance video. asserted
Press → rule → video
On Thursday, the Mississippi Department of Public Safety released more footage, including from the bodycam of Foster, which WLBT News obtained. asserted
News → release → which
Together, the footage shows a less cut-and-dry incident than what statements from Fitch and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation imply. asserted
statements → show → Investigation
Surveillance footage shows Kohen's mother, Vellesiya Wiley, and her friend running to their car from the Walmart entrance as Wiley holds baby Kohen in her arms. asserted
Wiley → show → arms
Police officers soon enter the frame chasing the duo. asserted
officers → enter → duo
After getting in the car, Wiley's friend backs out of the parking spot and hits another parked car. asserted
friend → get → car
The officers crowd around the vehicle, drawing their guns and shouting "stop." asserted
officers → crowd → guns
Foster places himself directly in front of the vehicle, his gun primed and ready. asserted
gun → place → vehicle
The driver puts the car in gear and accelerates toward the officers. asserted
driver → put → officers
According to his bodycam footage, Foster, one of the two officers in the vehicle's path, lets off three shots as he hops out of the way and continues to aim his gun at the car as it passes him. uncertain
it → accord → him
It appears that at least one of the shots pierced the front windshield, while the others came through the window on the passenger side, where Kohen was sitting on his mother's lap. asserted
Kohen → appear → lap
The car then drove away, and officers gave chase. asserted
officers → drive → chase
After reviewing the footage, Ben Crump, the Wiley family attorney, said during a Thursday press conference that the police officers "never ever should have drawn their weapons for a misdemeanor shoplifting allegation." "The shot from the side of the vehicle was not justified," he added. asserted
he → review → vehicle
"[Foster] was not in harm's way when he shot from the side." asserted
he → shoot → side
He claims that the shot that killed Kohen came from the side, corroborating an independent autopsy the family conducted. uncertain
family → claim → autopsy
Martin Zummach, an attorney for Foster, told the Associated Press that the driver "tried to kill" his client and other officers at the scene, giving Foster "no choice but to fire his weapon." asserted
driver → tell → weapon
He said it was "strictly muscle memory" that led Foster to fire those additional shots, according to WSB News. uncertain
that → say → News
"The one that went through the side glass that everybody's going crazy about? asserted
everybody → go → that
That's because she was moving so fast," he said. asserted
he → move → ?
Regardless of whether the car was "moving so fast," Foster, who moved out of the vehicle's path, clearly had the choice not to fire his weapon. asserted
who → move → weapon
But instead of de-escalating the situation, the police officers decided to draw their guns and step in front of a vehicle, turning an incident involving an alleged shoplifter fleeing a misdemeanor into a life-or-death game of chicken. asserted
officers → de → chicken
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