Mississippi releases body-camera footage of fatal toddler police shooting

Hunter Foster fired after the vehicle struck a parked car and moved forward

Mississippi authorities released body-camera footage on Thursday showing the police shooting that killed one-year-old Kohen Wiley in a Walmart car park in Senatobia on 14 June. Wiley was riding on the lap of his mother, Vellesiya Wiley, in a moving car that also carried another woman. The recording provides the first-person view of Hunter Foster, the officer who opened fire.

In the footage, a staff member tells officers that suspected shoplifters were getting away. Five law enforcement officers then run toward the car with guns drawn. The vehicle reverses and crashes into a parked car before pulling forward. Foster runs closer with his gun raised, aims at the moving vehicle and shouts, “Stop!”

As the car closely passes Foster, he fires and shatters the passenger-side window. Four gunshots can be heard while police command the driver to stop. The car continues to drive away slowly through the car park.

CCTV from the storefront appears to show another officer standing near the front of the moving vehicle at the moment Foster opened fire.

Mississippi’s attorney general found Foster’s use of force justified. Martin Zummach, Foster’s lawyer, said, “The driver of the vehicle was attempting to kill those 5 officers,” and said Foster “had no choice but to discharge his weapon.” Zummach expressed sadness about the loss of life and described the investigation’s outcome as expected and overdue.

The child’s family disputes that justification. Ben Crump, the family’s lawyer, called the police response “excessive from the very start” and said an allegation of shoplifting “does not warrant the death” of a child. Kohen Wiley’s mother, Vellesiya Wiley, denied that she and her friend stole nappies from the store, and no charges have been filed against them.

Senatobia Mayor Greg Graves confirmed to the BBC’s US partner CBS that Foster had resigned. The Senatobia Police Department did not immediately respond to BBC requests for confirmation.

Kohen Wiley’s death has sparked protests and vigils in Mississippi. At a news conference, relatives demanded accountability. His grandmother, LaSandra Williams, said she was having a difficult time understanding the word “justified.”