Kohen Wiley’s parents protest at Mississippi attorney general’s office

Body-camera footage shows Foster firing into the vehicle carrying Kohen

Davion Williams and Vellesiya Wiley, the parents of 1-year-old Kohen Wiley, led a protest Monday at the Mississippi attorney general’s office in Jackson after the office ruled the police shooting that killed their son justified. The office had made that ruling the previous month.

In the office’s lobby, Kohen’s parents and a small group of activists demanded to speak with Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch as cries of “our baby’s life mattered” echoed through the building. Marquell Bridges, an activist who has been working with Kohen’s parents, said they wanted Fitch to look Kohen’s parents in the eyes and tell them why the shooting was justified. “These people work for us. We pay their salaries. We vote. We put them in office, and our people have to understand that we have the power,” he said.

The protesters met Fitch’s chief of staff in the lobby, who said Fitch was not in the office. An email seeking comment was sent to the attorney general’s office Monday.

The shooting had sparked months of mourning and calls for justice, both nationally and in Senatobia. Kohen would have turned 2 on Sunday. Sitting outside the attorney general’s office, Kohen’s father, Davion Williams, said the passing of Kohen’s birthday was “the worst feeling ever.” “It’s hard. It’s just hard to even express and talk about,” said Williams. “Now we have to keep his name alive.” Williams said he wants Foster prosecuted and Fitch out of office. He wore a T-shirt with Kohen’s face that read, “Kohen should be 2. Vote in his honor.”

The Mississippi Attorney General’s office said its monthslong probe found Foster’s use of force appropriate. Foster’s attorney, Martin Zummach, has said his client had “no choice” but to shoot at the vehicle because it was going to hit him.

Kohen was killed in June when Foster fired his gun into a moving vehicle while police responded to a shoplifting call in Senatobia, a small town about 40 miles (65 kilometers) south of Memphis, Tennessee. Body-worn cameras show Vellesiya Wiley holding Kohen as she and a friend run across the parking lot of a Senatobia Walmart and enter their vehicle. Wiley and the friend, who was driving, are Black.

Five officers approached the parked car with guns drawn. The car reversed away and crashed into a nearby parked vehicle as officers yelled for it to stop, then accelerated forward. Foster stepped toward the vehicle, directly in front of it, with his gun drawn. The wheels turned away from him, and he appears to have put his hands on the hood while jumping out of the way. Foster fired, shattering the front passenger-side window where Kohen sat on his mother’s lap.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was investigating an arson fire on Saturday that damaged the Senatobia police building. It was unclear what caused the fire. Emails to the ATF and the state fire marshal’s office Monday were not immediately returned.