Hunter Foster, a former Senatobia, Miss., police officer, was cleared of criminal wrongdoing in the death of Kohen Wiley by the Mississippi Attorney General’s office earlier this week

NEED TO KNOW

• The police officer who fatally shot a 1-year-old boy in June while responding to an alleged shoplifting call in Mississippi has resigned from his job
• Hunter Foster, a former Senatobia, Miss., police officer, was cleared of criminal wrongdoing in the death of Kohen Wiley by the Mississippi Attorney General’s office earlier this week
• Foster’s resignation comes several days after the state released videos of the fatal shooting, including Foster’s body-worn camera footage

The police officer who fatally shot a 1-year-old boy in June while responding to an alleged shoplifting call in Mississippi has resigned from his job.

Greg Graves, the mayor of Senatobia, Miss., confirmed to the Associated Press and CBS News on Friday, Oct. 23, that Hunter Foster — who was cleared of criminal wrongdoing by the Mississippi Attorney General’s office earlier this week after a months-long probe into his use of force in the death of Kohen Wiley — resigned.

The resignation comes several days after the state released videos of the fatal shooting, including Foster’s body-worn camera footage of the June 14 encounter in a Walmart parking lot in Senatobia, about 40 miles south of Memphis, Tenn.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the Wiley family, told AP that the newly released footage shows that the shot that killed Kohen came from the side of the car, disputing claims that Foster was in imminent danger. Crump called for the federal government to investigate the shooting.

“Officer Foster’s resignation is hardly a step toward accountability, and it is certainly not justice,” the attorney told the outlet. “Turning in a badge does not erase responsibility for taking a life, and it will not end our fight for justice for Kohen and his family.”

Mississippi Department of Public Safety spokesperson Alex Gibert also confirmed to AP on Friday that Foster remained certified as a police officer, despite additional calls from the Wiley family’s legal team for Foster to be decertified so that he cannot be hired by another law enforcement agency.

Officers were at the Walmart to respond to a call about an alleged shoplifting and encountered two people with a child fleeing from the store into a vehicle, the Mississippi Department of Public Safety said at the time of the June 14 incident. The state agency said officers had tried to stop the vehicle, “but the driver drove in the direction of the officers, almost striking one.”

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Foster then fired at the vehicle as it fled the scene, the state agency alleged. The vehicle arrived at a hospital, where Kohen was pronounced dead, and another individual was critically injured, according to authorities.

The newly released videos, viewed by AP, show Kohen’s mother, Vellesiya Wiley, holding the 1-year-old as she and her friend ran across the parking lot and entered their vehicle. Five officers approached the parked car with guns drawn, before the car reversed away and crashed into a nearby parked car, as officers yelled for the driver to stop.

The vehicle then accelerated forward, and Foster moved directly in front of it with his gun drawn. The car’s wheels turned away from him, and he appeared to put his hands on the hood before jumping out of the way, AP reported. He then fired his gun, shattering the window of the front passenger side, where Kohen was seated on his mother’s lap. The car then drove away.

Multiple news outlets reported that diapers and baby clothes had allegedly been stolen from the store, but Vellesiya denied the claims. She and the friend have not been charged in the case.

Crump said in June that Vellesiya had been trying to communicate to officers that there was a baby in the car.

Following Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch’s announcement on Oct. 19 that Foster was “justified” in using deadly force, attorneys for the Wiley family called for further accountability in the case.

“A 1-year-old baby was shot and killed by a police officer, and now the state of Mississippi says that use of force was justified,” Crump said in a statement. “We will not stop fighting until this family gets the truth.”

In his statement, Crump mentioned the recent ouster of Senatobia’s police chief, Harold Vanderford, who was fired last month after Mississippi Today, Verite News and The New York Times reported that he had used racist slurs against Black people in private text messages.

Crump also highlighted that Foster was accused of making a racially offensive remark to a co-worker days before the shooting, according to Mississippi Today.

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