Family of 1-year-old Kohen Wiley asks Justice Department to investigate his shooting death by Senatobia officer

The family of 1-year-old Kohen Wiley is asking the U.S. Department of Justice to open an investigation into his death, days after Mississippi officials concluded the police officer who shot him acted within the law.

Kohen was killed on June 14 in the parking lot of a Walmart in Senatobia, Mississippi, when a Senatobia police officer opened fire. Earlier this week, the office of Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch announced that the officer's actions were justified.

The Wiley family is represented by civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and Van Turner, who held a press conference Thursday morning with relatives and community activists. Attorney Turner said the team would petition the Justice Department. "We're going to petition the Department of Justice to open an investigation to make sure that we get justice for this baby. It just won't end here," he said.

According to Crump's team, the family reviewed all of the surveillance and body camera footage provided by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation (MBI) on Thursday morning. Turner and Crump said the footage is consistent with the findings of an independent autopsy the family commissioned.

Kohen was struck by a bullet that entered through his side and traveled from right to left. Crump said MBI told the family that three shots were fired in total. "The third bullet from the side, the bullet that killed one-year-old baby Kohen Wiley, was not justified," he said.

Relatives said they remain heartbroken. LaSandra Williams, Kohen's paternal grandmother, said she was struggling to understand the finding. "I'm having a difficult time understanding the word justified. I just don't understand," she said. Veronica Roberson, his maternal grandmother, said the footage left her disgusted and that the word "justified" had haunted her since Monday. Both women said they will keep pressing for justice.

Following the Attorney General's decision, Senatobia Police Officer Hunter Foster reportedly resigned, according to Turner. The family, Crump's team and community members said they want Foster decertified.

Brackin Camp, a community activist, said the matter should not be viewed through the lens of race. "It's not a white or Black issue. It's a right or wrong issue," Camp said, adding that the force used in the Walmart parking lot was excessive and that what happened was "unbelievable."

The Senatobia Board of Aldermen and the mayor also called a special meeting on Wednesday. WMC news crews attended, but a motion was passed to convert the session into a closed executive session on police personnel matters.