The Mississippi officer who shot and killed 1-year-old Kohen Wiley outside a Walmart has resigned as the state releases footage from his body camera showing the deadly incident.
Senatobia Mayor Greg Graves confirmed to CNN on Friday that Sgt. Hunter Foster resigned from the police department.
It comes after the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation (MBI) released several videos of the June 14 encounter, including three body-camera videos from Senatobia officers and two surveillance videos from Walmart.
On Monday, the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office ruled that the shooting was justified. Wiley’s family says they found out about the ruling at the same time as the rest of the world.
“This decision sends a message that a black baby boy’s life is not as valuable as the white diapers he was wrapped in,” said Attorney Ben Crump, who represents the family.
According to Darkhorse Press, Senatobia police responded to Walmart after someone reported a “pervert,” a complaint unrelated to the two women accused of shoplifting while with Wiley.
New Video Reveals Chaos Before Mississippi Cop Shot a Black Baby Dead, Then Walked Free
One video shows a security guard speaking with Wiley’s mother, Vellesiya Wiley, and the woman driving the car near the store’s exit before the women ran to their vehicle.
Another video shows officers in the store’s loss prevention office when an employee interrupts them, saying, “Two women are running.”
Moments later, officers chase Wiley and the other woman as they get into the car.
“This was excessive from the very start,” Crump said. “You will see the videos for yourself. The officers came out as if they were responding to a bank robbery or a hostage situation.”
The driver initially moved forward before reversing into a sheriff’s deputy, who appeared to limp after the impact. The driver then maneuvered around the area, hit a parked car, and accelerated toward officers.
MBI released Foster’s body camera footage on Thursday, showing the car approaching him before he opened fire. One shot came as Foster stepped out of the car’s path. Kohen died at a nearby hospital, while the driver suffered critical injuries.
Foster’s attorney, Martin Zummach, told CNN in a statement, “The driver of the vehicle was attempting to kill those 5 officers, and Hunter Foster had no choice but to discharge his weapon. We are very sad for the loss of life. But the outcome of the investigation was not only expected, but it was overdue.”
The family’s legal team, however, disputed that account, arguing that Foster was not in danger when he fired the fatal shot.
“He was not in harm’s way when he shot [Kohen] from the side,” said Crump. “We believe that when he fired that shot- that fatal shot that killed this one-year-old baby- it was from the side of the vehicle, and it was not justified.”
Crump again cited findings from an independent autopsy indicating that the bullet entered through the side of the car.
The family’s legal team also argues that the driver never intended to use her car as a weapon and was simply trying to escape.
“There was no reason at all to fire that last shot when the driver was attempting not to hit the officers, but to get away from the officers,” said attorney Van Turner, who is also representing the family.
The final body-camera video shows officers outside an emergency medical center, where Foster said, “I didn’t even see a f**king baby in her lap.”
“Nobody knew the baby was there,” another officer said. “All I saw was two females in the car.”
“That’s all I saw,” Foster said.
Wiley’s mother has said and maintains that she lifted her son to show officers that a child was inside the car.
This is not the first time Foster has been under the microscope for his conduct.
Just two days before the incident, he allegedly called his co-worker, Dexter Smith, “a Black motherf–ker,” according to an internal complaint obtained by Mississippi Today.
The family says despite the AG’s ruling, they will not stop fighting for justice for baby Kohen.
“You were never in danger, and you killed my grandbaby, and there’s no justice for him,” said Veronica Roberson, Kohen’s maternal grandmother. “Somebody got to help us with this, and I won’t stop until we get justice for my grandbaby.”
The family and their legal team are now urging the Department of Justice to involve the FBI in the investigation.
