Officer who fatally shot 1-year-old Kohen Wiley resigns from Mississippi police department

Hunter Foster’s resignation comes days after the state attorney general declined to pursue criminal charges in the toddler’s death.

A Mississippi police officer has resigned following the fatal shooting of 1-year-old Kohen Wiley during a June encounter outside a Walmart, days after state authorities concluded that the officer’s use of force was justified and declined to pursue criminal charges.

Senatobia Mayor Greg Graves confirmed Hunter Foster’s resignation on Friday, October 23, according to CNN, which reported that the officer’s departure came amid renewed scrutiny over the incident and demands for accountability from the child’s family.

The shooting happened on June 14 in Senatobia, where police officers and Tate County deputies approached a vehicle occupied by Wiley’s mother, Vellesiya Wiley, and her friend. Authorities suspected the women of stealing diapers and baby clothes, although neither woman had been charged with shoplifting, according to the report.

Body camera footage released by the Mississippi Department of Public Safety shows officers ordering the driver to stop as the vehicle moves out of a parking space. The car appears to move toward at least one officer before Foster fires into it. Wiley was fatally shot, while one of the women was critically injured.

Foster later told another law enforcement official that he had not seen the child inside the vehicle, according to footage described by CNN.

Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch announced on Monday that her office had completed its review of the case. She said investigators found insufficient evidence of criminal conduct to take the matter before a grand jury and that prosecution would not proceed.

Foster’s attorney, Martin Zummach, defended the officer’s actions, arguing that the driver had attempted to strike officers and that Foster had no choice but to fire. He also described the investigation’s outcome as expected.

The decision has drawn sharp criticism from the family and civil rights attorney Ben Crump. At a news conference on Thursday, Crump argued that the encounter escalated unnecessarily over an alleged shoplifting incident.

“The bullet that killed 1-year-old baby Kohen Wiley was not justified,” Crump said.

Wiley’s grandmother, Veronica Roberson, also rejected the official finding, saying the word “justified” had haunted her after watching the footage. The family has continued to call for accountability over the toddler’s death.

Wiley’s mother has disputed the claim that her friend drove toward officers. That disagreement remains central to the competing accounts of what happened in the Walmart parking lot.

The case has attracted national attention and intensified concerns about policing in Senatobia, a small Mississippi town already facing scrutiny over police conduct. The Associated Press previously reported that former police chief Harold Vanderford was fired following reports alleging he used racist slurs in private text messages.