It’s been a month since police in Senatobia, Mississippi, shot and killed 1-year-old Kohen Wiley after responding to an alleged shoplifting call outside a Walmart.
As police arrived on June 14, two women were leaving the store. Officers claim that as the women tried to drive out of the parking lot, the car nearly hit an officer. The officer fired three to four times at the car, killing baby Kohen.
Kohen's mother, Vellesiya Wiley, says that the vehicle she was riding in was traveling away from law enforcement, not toward the officer. Police bodycam and store surveillance footage still has not been released, leaving Kohen’s family without answers.
Attorney Ben Crump demanded an independent autopsy, which is crucial given the history of autopsies being used to shift blame away from law enforcement and onto their victims. Only four states even require coroners to be physicians; Mississippi is not among them.
We don't need more police or bigger police budgets. Policing is a threat to all of our lives, including those of our babies, because it was built to control Black bodies and lives, not to protect or serve.