If someone is suspected of shoplifting diapers for their baby , should that child be shot in response to the allegation ? This shit is beyond fucked up , and makes me both sad and angry.
Police in Senatobia, a department with a history of abuse, kill a 1-year-old boy
Kohen Wiley, a 1-year-old boy, was killed by police in Senatobia, Mississippi, on June 14, after officers responded to an alleged theft incident at a local Walmart involving a box of diapers.
Wiley was pronounced dead at a hospital shortly after an officer fired on a car carrying his mother, a family friend, and the child. The family friend remains in critical condition.
Police say they attempted to stop two adult suspects and a minor as they were leaving the parking lot after allegedly stealing a box of diapers. According to police, the vehicle drove toward the officers before one of them fired a shot at the car.
The officer who killed Wiley was placed on paid administrative leave while state authorities investigate the shooting.
“They didn’t even put him on unpaid administrative leave. They wanted to put him on administrative leave, but they put him on with pay. They refused to put him on unpaid leave,” a community member told El Obrero .
Wiley's family is demanding answers and has hired civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump to represent them.
In a statement on behalf of the family, Crump declared: “Kohen Wiley was a baby. His mother, who has not been charged with any crime, says she tried to tell the officers there was a baby in the car. They fired anyway, killing an innocent one-year-old. Our intention is to seek justice for baby Kohen and for the life that was taken from him.”
Wiley's killing has sparked outrage among Senatobia residents. In this small Mississippi town of approximately 8,500 people, some 200 neighbors gathered outside City Hall during a town hall meeting on June 16 to demand the officer's arrest and dismissal.
Later that day, protesters marched along Senatobia to the Walmart parking lot where Wiley was killed. County police officers, wearing gas masks, fired tear gas into the crowd to disperse the protesters. Journalists covering the protest were also affected by the gas. Law enforcement maintained a heavy presence in the area for several hours afterward.
Speaking to El Obrero , one protester recalled the police response: “It was a very large crowd, and someone from behind threw a water bottle. And without warning. They just started… They fired the gas. If you watched the news reports, everyone was affected by the tear gas.”
Protests demanding justice continued throughout the week.
The Senatobia Police Department (SPD) has a recent history of excessive use of force and reckless actions. In 2025, body camera footage showed SPD officers using excessive force against a brown man during a dispute over a handicapped parking space at the same Walmart where Kohen Wiley was killed. In 2024, the department drew heavy criticism after footage of a reckless arrest at a resident's home was made public.
Residents also expressed anger over a broader pattern in which officers accused of misconduct move between departments without accountability.
One resident told El Obrero , “We want them to stop accepting all the racist police officers they fire from other places. What they do is leave one place and jump to the next county to get another job. And they continue with the same behavior. This is the next big town after DeSoto. All the corrupt police officers from DeSoto end up here.”
“We need justice,” a community member told El Obrero . “We need them to be held accountable. The police officer must be fired. The police officers must go.”
Image: Kohen Wiley. Credit: Mississippi Free Press.
