Amid Unanswered Questions, Mississippi Family Says Final Goodbye to 1-Year-Old Shot by Police
POPE, Miss. — Before the public outcry, before the demands for justice, before he was placed inside a small casket nestled beside a stuffed Bluey, there were simple hopes: fishing trips with grandpa, running through the yard with cousins, that first day of school. Kohen Wiley was just months shy of his second birthday, named by his maternal grandmother, and had already taken his first steps.
Those dreams ended on June 14 in a Walmart parking lot in Senatobia, a small city in northern Mississippi about 40 miles from Memphis. Responding to a reported shoplifting, officers encountered a vehicle believed to be fleeing the scene. Authorities said the driver nearly struck an officer, prompting an officer to open fire. Kohen was struck and later died at a hospital. His mother, Vellesiya Wiley, who was in the passenger seat, has maintained the driver—a friend who has not been publicly identified—was not trying to hit anyone but was attempting to drive away amid confusion.
Thirteen days after watching her baby take his last breath, Wiley walked into Hosanna Family Worship Center clutching a stuffed Bluey of her own, joining a congregation dressed in shades of blue. The Rev. Keri Henson, delivering the eulogy under the leadership of Pastor Fred Butts, described the bond between mother and son as “inseparable,” and recounted how Kohen’s father, Davion Williams, called his son “kind of goofy.” His grandfather had called Kohen his “favorite person.”
“We can look at his pictures and see the light in his eyes,” Henson said.
But even as mourners filled the sanctuary, questions festered. The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation has not released body‑camera footage, a move civil rights attorney Ben Crump—who is also representing the family—called for immediately. Local officials have refused to release the recordings until the investigation concludes, a stance that has drawn criticism from community advocates who note other departments have published such footage sooner.
During the service, family attorney Van Turner told the crowd there was no justification for the killing. “There is nothing in that Walmart store that is more precious than a baby,” he said to applause. The legal team has confirmed that the police were called over allegedly stolen diapers. “He deserved more than to have his life taken over some diapers,” Turner continued, standing alongside Kohen’s parents. He ended with a call for both mourning and action: “Today we celebrate his precious soul. Tomorrow and the next day, we’re going to shout ‘Justice for Baby Kohen.’” The crowd echoed the cry.
The death has reignited longstanding tensions between the Senatobia Police Department and the Black community. The 2023 arrest of a 10‑year‑old boy for urinating in public drew fierce condemnation, and several residents at Friday’s visitation and Saturday’s funeral described a department that had shifted away from the friendly relationships they once had with Black officers.
“Prayerfully this will be a change for Senatobia,” said Myron Cathey, 38, who stood at a doorway holding tissues for mourners. “Because now the nation sees what we’ve been dealing with.”
Renay Jones, who grew up in Senatobia and knows one of Kohen’s grandmothers, recalled friendlier times with Black officers but said the department has changed. “Senatobia could be a good place,” she said, wearing a T‑shirt bearing Kohen’s face. “It just needs the right people running it.”
Outside the church, some called for a boycott of Walmart, both locally and nationally. The Senatobia store was closed Friday as marchers protested. Edward Scott, a cousin of Kohen’s, questioned why the officer involved was hired in the first place.
Local and state officials have not identified the officer who fired the fatal shots. The city police department said the officer was placed on administrative leave. Turner told attendees that Crump would travel to Senatobia soon to continue pressing for accountability.
As the service ended, a funeral director read a proclamation from state Sen. Justin Pope stating that Kohen would be “cherished” and “deeply missed.” Six small children dressed in white and navy carried his casket to a white horse‑drawn carriage waiting in the stifling Mississippi heat. Dozens of motorcycles rumbled into the church parking lot, leading a procession that wove through the rural landscape—a final, solemn journey for a child whose life was cut short over diapers.