POLICE OFFICER WHO SHOT DEAD 1-YEAR-OLD BOY RESIGNS — AFTER STATE RULES FATAL SHOOTING WAS JUSTIFIED

A Mississippi police officer who fatally shot a 1-year-old boy during a police response to an alleged shoplifting incident has resigned from the force, months after the child’s death sparked outrage and calls for accountability.

Hunter Foster, formerly an officer with the Senatobia Police Department, resigned on October 23, 2026, according to city officials. His departure came days after Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch announced that the shooting was legally justified.

The child, Kohen Wiley, was shot on June 14 in a Walmart parking lot in Senatobia, Mississippi. His mother, Vellesiya Wiley, was holding him inside a vehicle when Foster opened fire.

Newly released body-camera footage has brought renewed attention to the tragic encounter, while the family’s attorneys are calling for a federal investigation.

A SHOPPING TRIP ENDED IN TRAGEDY

On June 14, officers were at the Walmart for an unrelated call when an employee alerted them to two women who were allegedly leaving after a shoplifting incident involving diapers.

Kohen’s mother and her friend ran toward their vehicle. Vellesiya got into the front passenger seat while her friend took the driver’s seat, with the one-year-old in his mother’s arms.

Neither woman has been charged in connection with the alleged shoplifting.

As officers approached the vehicle, the driver began reversing. The car struck a parked vehicle as officers shouted for her to stop.

The vehicle then moved forward.

Foster stepped toward the car with his firearm drawn and fired three shots, according to reporting on the released footage. Bullets shattered the front passenger window, where Vellesiya and her son were sitting.

Kohen was struck in the torso. The driver was also wounded.

The women drove to a hospital, where Kohen was pronounced dead.

He would have celebrated his second birthday on November 1, 2026.

BODY-CAMERA FOOTAGE RAISES FURTHER QUESTIONS

The release of body-camera and surveillance footage has intensified scrutiny of the officer’s actions.

The videos show how quickly the encounter escalated, from officers responding to the reported shoplifting incident to gunfire in the parking lot.

Foster’s attorney, Martin Zummach, has maintained that the officer was forced to fire because the vehicle was moving toward him, arguing that he had no choice but to use his weapon.

Mississippi authorities reached a similar legal conclusion after reviewing the incident. The state’s investigation found that the vehicle was driven toward officers and determined that Foster’s use of deadly force was justified.

However, the family disputes that account.

Vellesiya has said she was holding Kohen up to show officers that a child was inside the car. Her family’s legal team has challenged the claim that Foster faced an imminent threat when he fired.

An independent autopsy commissioned by the family also became part of their effort to challenge the official account.

The competing interpretations of the footage have left the shooting at the center of an ongoing dispute over whether the use of deadly force was necessary.

OFFICER CLEARED BY STATE, THEN RESIGNS

On October 19, Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch announced that the shooting was justified and that Foster would not face criminal charges based on the state’s findings.

Four days later, Senatobia Mayor Greg Graves confirmed that Foster had resigned from the police department. The city’s board of aldermen had accepted his resignation on October 21.

The resignation does not amount to an admission of wrongdoing, nor does it resolve the family’s objections to the shooting.

Foster had been placed on leave following the incident. His departure from the department also does not automatically prevent him from seeking employment with another law enforcement agency.

The family’s attorneys have called for him to be decertified, a step that could prevent him from serving as a police officer elsewhere.

FAMILY DEMANDS FEDERAL INVESTIGATION

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents Kohen’s family, said the state’s decision should not end the matter.

Crump has called on the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the shooting independently, arguing that the newly released footage raises serious questions about the use of deadly force during an incident that began with an allegation of shoplifting.

The family says it wants a full accounting of what happened and why an encounter involving a vehicle with a young child inside ended in gunfire.

Kohen’s grandmother, LaSandra Williams, has also expressed disbelief at the state’s conclusion that the shooting was justified.

For the family, the loss is not simply a legal dispute. It is the death of a child who was sitting in his mother’s arms during a chaotic encounter in a parking lot.

A RESIGNATION THAT MAY NOT END THE CONTROVERSY

The shooting has prompted wider questions about police responses to suspected shoplifting, the use of firearms around moving vehicles, and how authorities investigate fatal encounters involving officers.

The state’s finding that Foster’s actions were justified stands in direct contrast to the family’s view that the shooting was unnecessary and that more accountability is needed.

Foster’s resignation marks a significant development, but the family’s legal representatives say they will continue seeking a federal review.

As the debate continues, Kohen’s relatives are left grieving a child whose life ended before his second birthday.

For them, the central question remains whether every possible step has been taken to establish what happened in those few seconds outside the Walmart — and whether an independent investigation can provide answers the family believes it still deserves.

Source: PEOPLE