Investigation into shooting of Senatobia toddler now with state attorney general's office

by Elise Catrion Gregg • Published on September 18, 2026

Senatobia community members gather outside Walmart on Wed., June 17. On Jun 14, law enforcement shot 1-year-old Kohen Wiley in the parking lot of that same Walmart.
Courtesy of Marquell Bridges

Over three months ago, 1-year-old Kohen Wiley was fatally shot by police in the parking lot of a Senatobia Walmart. City police say the investigation is now in the hands of the state attorney general's office.

Elise Catrion Gregg

Investigation into shooting of Senatobia toddler now with state attorney general's office

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigations has spent the last several months conducting a review into the shooting. Now, interim Senatobia police chief Angelica Maze, in a release, says that MBI "has their investigative findings over to the Attorney General's office as required by law."

Public safety commissioner Sean Tindell initially estimated that an investigation could take six to nine months. Maze states the department is committed to transparency, though state officials have not given a timeline for releasing the findings.

Filer image — Press release from Angelica Maze, interim chief of the Senatobia Police Department, indicating that the Mississippi Bureau of Investigations has turned its findings over Attorney General Lynn Fitch's office.
From the Senatobia Police Department

State prosecutors will determine whether to file charges or releasefindings from the investigationinto Wiley's shooting by a Senatobia officer, who opened fire on a vehicle during a June 14 shoplifting call. The attorney general's office declined to comment, citing the active investigation.

"I'm hopeful that we'll get a good resolution out of this investigation with result with the, you know, hopefully with the result of Sergeant Hunter Foster being indicted," said Van Turner, a civil rights attorney representing Wiley's family.

Officials initially claimed that an officer fired at the car because the driver was heading toward them, but an independent autopsy and review of the vehicle showed the bullet entry points weren't consistent with that claim. Records obtained by Mississippi Today show that Foster was accused of exaggerating the danger a vehicle posed in a separate 2019 case.

Tindell, in June, said that evidence would include footage from Walmart, as well as video from body and dashboard cameras, and statements from officers involved in the incident. The community has continued pushing for the release of video footage.

"I want to think I think that being transparent will end in a positive way because, you know, whether there's an indictment or not, at least the public has been informed and you've at least shown that you are transparent," said Turner. "If there's no indictment and you've been clandestine, not forthcoming, not transparent, I just I think it just leaves a bad taste in the mouths of those in Senatobia and, quite frankly, the state of Mississippi."

The update comes from Maze following the firing of former chief Harold Vanderford over racist text messages. The officer involved in the shooting, Hunter Foster, was also the subject of internal complaint by a colleague over a racist remark that Foster made just days before the shooting.

Tindell was not available for comment and Senatobia city officials did not respond to emailed requests for comment. Tindell is currently running for state attorney general, while Attorney General Lynn Fitch is running governor.