The Case of 1-Year-Old Kohen Wiley Has People Searching for Answers

Tensions between police and black residents in the small town of Senatobia, Mississippi, are high after 1-year-old Kohen Wiley was shot and killed by police responding to an alleged shoplifting incident on June 14.

Photos of Kohen's coffin, covered in images of his favorite cartoon character Bluey, have gone viral online and left many wondering how such a terrible event took place.

According to CNN, Senatobia police were responding to a shoplifting call involving diapers at a local Walmart when the shooting occurred.

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation said in a statement: “Officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver drove in the direction of the officers, almost striking one. An officer then discharged their weapon, and the vehicle fled the scene.”

Kohen’s mother, Vellesiya Wiley, said that her son and her friend, who was driving, were both hit by the gunfire. She said that her friend was not driving towards police officers and that they were “all on the right side and she was driving towards the left.”

Wiley also said that she believed her friend had paid for the diapers and not stolen them.

“ I watched my baby take his first breath, and I watched my baby take his last breath,” Wiley said in a press conference on Monday.

While many have called for footage of the incident to be released by police, the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation has said that they will not publish footage until the investigation is complete.

Unsurprisingly, the tragedy has attracted a lot of attention online. One user wrote: "Extremely shameful that Kohen Wiley’s murder has not gained more attention. This baby was killed by the police, and nothing has been done, and it’s being swept under the rug."

"This is what happens in a 'shoot first, ask questions later' culture of policing. When those entrusted with public safety reach for a gun faster than they reach for their conscience, they are declaring that property is more precious than people. That is not public safety. It is a spiritual crisis."

Bernice King, the daughter of Martin Luther King, Jr., added: “A 1-year-old baby, Kohen Kartier Wiley, is dead because police opened fire over an alleged shoplifting incident in a Walmart parking lot. We are treating items on a shelf as more valuable than a child. That is not just bad policing; it is a moral collapse. We need officers who honor the sacredness of life more than the thrill of power and control. A badge is not a license to shoot first and ask questions later."

"No item in any store is worth the life of a child. Kohen should be alive today. We cannot simply grieve and move on. We must raise our voices, demand accountability, insist on policies and training that put the preservation of life above the protection of property, and refuse to accept a culture where it is thinkable to fire into a car with a baby inside. Our charge is clear: until the sacredness of human life is the starting point of every police encounter, we must demand changes in training and work unrelentingly to reform policies around police accountability."