A one-year-old boy lay dead in a hospital Sunday night after a Senatobia police officer fired into a vehicle responding to a shoplifting call, leaving another passenger critically wounded and reshaping one family's future in seconds.
Kohen Wiley was strapped inside the car with his mother and her friend when the shooting erupted outside a Walmart in the northern Mississippi city. The child's mother escaped physical injury, but the friend was seriously hurt in the gunfire.
The chain of events began when the three exited the store and got into their vehicle. When officers attempted to stop the car, the driver accelerated toward an officer and nearly struck them, according to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, which is now examining the shooting. An officer then opened fire on the moving vehicle, which fled the scene.
Both women drove directly to a hospital, where Kohen was pronounced dead.
Kohen's grandfather, Carlos Haynes, painted a portrait of a happy boy whose life ended before it truly began. "Someone ended it all before it could even start," Haynes told investigators and advocates working with the family.
Marquell Bridges, a local community advocate and president of the Building Bridges Coalition, said he is helping the grieving family secure legal representation as questions mount about the officer's decision to fire.
Senatobia's police department has remained largely silent, issuing only a brief Facebook statement: "As the investigation progresses and facts are verified, we will share as much information as possible." The department declined further comment when contacted by the Associated Press. The Tate County Sheriff's Office, also present during the shooting, also refused to discuss details.
Walmart released a statement expressing sadness over the incident and confirming it is cooperating with law enforcement in the investigation.
Senatobia sits roughly 40 miles south of Memphis, Tennessee.
Author James Rodriguez: "A toddler's death over a shoplifting call demands full transparency and a hard look at split-second decisions that cannot be unmade."
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