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Mississippi AG says police shooting that killed 1-year-old was ‘justified’

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Cite

Siemaszko, C. (2026, October 19). Mississippi AG says police shooting that killed 1-year-old was ‘justified’. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/mississippi-ag-says-police-shooting-killed-1-year-old-was-justified-rcna604424

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

NBC News · collected 2026-10-19 · by Corky Siemaszko

Quick Summary

Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch declared on Monday that the fatal police shooting of 1-year-old Kohen Wiley was justified. The incident occurred four months prior when an officer shot at a vehicle fleeing from a Walmart parking lot after allegedly stealing merchandise; Kohen, who was a passenger in the car with his mother and her friend, died as a result. His family has been protesting for justice since then, disputing the official narrative provided by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation that the driver posed an imminent threat to officers. The attorney general's office concluded its review based on evidence from the MBI investigation without seeking additional input from Wiley’s mother or her legal team.
Written by AI on 2026-10-19, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On October 23, 2026, Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch declared that a June 14 shooting by a Senatobia Police Department officer was "justified" after an investigation found no basis for criminal charges against the officer involved. The incident occurred when officers responded to a shoplifting report at a Walmart in Senatobia, Mississippi, leading to the fatal shooting of Kohen Wiley, a 1-year-old child who was in the vehicle driven by his mother’s friend as she attempted to leave the scene.

Bodycam footage released on October 21 revealed that officers surrounded the car and ordered it to stop. When the driver accelerated towards them, one officer opened fire, hitting Kohen Wiley, who was in a rear seat. The child died from the gunshot wound. Hunter Foster, the officer involved, subsequently resigned following pressure from local officials.

Kohen's family disputes this characterization of events, arguing that the use of lethal force against a vehicle with an infant inside constitutes excessive and unjustified violence. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump has called for further scrutiny into the circumstances leading up to the shooting and questioned the justification given by law enforcement.

Written for “Mississippi Cop Shoots One-Year-Old” on 2026-11-05, grounded in this article and the 14 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Mississippi Cop Shoots One-Year-Old
Crime & Law · 15 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Bodycam shows moment Mississippi cop opens fire on fleeing ‘shoplifters,’ killing 1-year-old boy — as AG says it was ‘justified’ Same event
New York Post
Hedges 5 of 19 claims Outlet record 66/100
Kohen Wiley’s Family Say They Never Heard From Investigators Who Concluded Cops Did No Wrong Same event
The Intercept
Hedges 6 of 95 claims Outlet record 97/100
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Daily Mail
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 6 of 15 claims Outlet record 69/100
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Hedges 0 of 3 claims Outlet record 64/100
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Hedges 3 of 45 claims Outlet record 67/100
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⚖️ Leans left Hedges 0 of 22 claims Outlet record 66/100
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Hedges 4 of 29 claims Outlet record 65/100
Mississippi A.G. Says Killing of 1-Year-Old Boy Over Stolen Diapers Was 'Justified' Same event
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Hedges 5 of 30 claims Outlet record 67/100
DOJ reaches settlement with Mississippi police department it found routinely violated civil rights Different event
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Hedges 1 of 3 claims Outlet record 64/100
“The articles describe two different events: a DOJ settlement regarding civil rights violations by a police department in Lexington, Mississippi, and an investigation into a fatal shooting of a one-year-old boy in Senatobia, Mississippi.”
Bodycam video shows fatal police shooting of 1-year-old boy Same event
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Hedges 0 of 3 claims Outlet record 65/100
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
23
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 23 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
78/100
NBC News's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
15
Crime & Law
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-19 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

NBC News · 2167 article(s) · 2 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 2 correction(s)
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Who wrote this

Corky Siemaszko
18 article(s) here · 0 carrying a prediction
🔮 “There will be a significant amount of trauma associated with this event for the community” he said.
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🔮 The doctor, according to the report, has “accepted accountability for his actions” and apologized “for his errors in judgment” and will no longer be prescribing peptides.
2026-10-30 · assertive framing · Richard Norton, actor and martial artist, died after peptides triggered heart attack, coroner says
🔮 The legal team for Jennings acknowledged they received the letter and said a response would follow, but no “substantive response” has been issued, the complaint said. As of Wednesday, Jennings’ post that includes the allegedly doctored video was still on X and had racked-up three million views.
2026-10-28 · assertive framing · Hasan Piker files $72.5 million defamation suit against Scott Jennings
🔮 While paramedics took the injured boy to a nearby hospital for treatment of what turned out to be an apparently minor injury, the deputies tracked Miller down by telephone. “She told the deputy that she was working in Las Vegas and would return on October 23, 2026,” the sheriff’s statement said.
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🔮 “We encourage anyone who may be struggling to seek support.”
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🔮 “I am a proud Mexican who has always been and will always be a supporter of my community,” Trejo wrote in an Oct. 9 post on Instagram.
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🔮 Investigators have not released a motive for the mayhem and autopsies were scheduled Tuesday for all three individuals.
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🔮 Allen “sustained a laceration to his forehead” but was not hospitalized, the department said, adding that they are “actively investigating this incident” and additional patrols will sent to the area.
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🔮 “Your imitation of chugging a beer constituted an offensive demonstration and could reasonably be construed as being in poor taste,” the NFL wrote in its fine letter ESPN first reported.
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🔮 Day, police said, may have implicated himself and Thomas by accidentally recording themselves while transporting the victim’s body.
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Also by Corky Siemaszko
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2026-10-28 · NBC News
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 18 articles by Corky Siemaszko →

Topics

MBI Mississippi Senatobia Walmart the Office of the Attorney General

Subjects

Wiley PERSON · 7× Walmart ORG · 3× Crump PERSON · 2× Kohen PERSON · 2× MBI ORG · 2× Senatobia GPE · 2× Kohen Wiley PERSON · 1× Lynn Fitch PERSON · 1× Mississippi GPE · 1× the Office of the Attorney General ORG · 1×

Narrative

In July, the family’s lawyers, Crump and Van Turner, released a preliminary autopsy report that they contend showed that the bullet that killed the child and wounded the driver was fired through one side of the car, fueling fresh questions about whether the shooting was justified.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-19
2026-10-19 · NBC News
Mississippi AG says police shooting that killed 1-year-old was ‘justified’ · assertive framing

Claims (23 extracted, 0 hedged)

The fatal shooting of a 1-year-old boy by a Mississippi police officer who fired at a vehicle while responding to a shoplifting call was a “justified” use of force, the state attorney general said Monday. asserted
general → fire → force
Attorney General Lynn Fitch’s office issued the brief statement four months after Kohen Wiley was killed when a police officer opened fire on a car that police said was fleeing from a Walmart parking lot in Senatobia. asserted
police → issue → Senatobia
“Today, the Office of the Attorney General announced it has completed the review of a June 14, 2026 incident in Senatobia involving one officer with the Senatobia Police Department,” the AG’s office said in the statement. asserted
office → announce → statement
“In this incident, the Attorney General’s Office found the use of force was justified.” asserted
use → find → force
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation. asserted
Bureau → conduct → investigation
There was no immediate response from Wiley’s family, which has for months been taking part in protests demanding justice for the slain boy in the small town 40 miles south of Memphis, Tennessee. asserted
which → be → Memphis
The deadly shooting happened after the responding officers arrived at Walmart and saw “two subjects and a juvenile child fleeing from the store into a vehicle,” the MBI said. asserted
MBI → happen → vehicle
Kohen’s mother, whom her lawyer identified as Vellesiya Wiley, was a passenger. asserted
lawyer → identify → Wiley
Her friend was driving. asserted
friend → drive → ?
“Officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver drove in the direction of the officers, almost striking one,” the MBI said in a June 14 report. asserted
MBI → attempt → report
“An officer then discharged their weapon and the vehicle fled the scene. asserted
vehicle → discharge → scene
The subjects arrived at a local hospital where one juvenile child in the vehicle was pronounced deceased, and another subject had critical injuries.” asserted
subject → arrive → injuries
Kohen’s mother has disputed that account. asserted
mother → dispute → account
In a video her lawyer Ben Crump posted on social media in June, Wiley said they had gone to Walmart for diapers. asserted
they → post → diapers
She said that her friend was briefly stopped while they were leaving the store and that “I kept walking because it had nothing to do with me.” asserted
it → say → me
“By the time me and my baby got in the car, she came,” Wiley said of her friend. asserted
Wiley → get → friend
They encountered police as they began to back out, Wiley said. asserted
Wiley → encounter → police
“I raised my baby up trying to show them that he was in the car,” she said. asserted
she → raise → car
In that moment, Wiley’s friend inadvertently hit another car while Wiley’s door was open. asserted
door → hit → car
Wiley said her friend did not try to hit the officers. asserted
friend → say → officers
“They was all on the right side, and she was driving towards the left,” she said. asserted
she → drive → left
In July, the family’s lawyers, Crump and Van Turner, released a preliminary autopsy report that they contend showed that the bullet that killed the child and wounded the driver was fired through one side of the car, fueling fresh questions about whether the shooting was justified. asserted
shooting → release → questions
“His mother, who has not been charged with any crime, says she was trying to communicate to officers that there was a baby in the car,” Crump said. asserted
Crump → charge → car
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