The bullet that killed 1-year-old Kohen Kartier Wiley did not travel from front to back, an independent forensic review shows. It entered his body from right to left.
The finding raises new questions about whether a police officer was in danger June 14 when he fired into a vehicle carrying Kohen in a Walmart parking lot in Senatobia, Mississippi.
According to the preliminary forensic examination, performed by board-certified forensic pathologist Dr. Roger Mitchell, the bullet entered the right side of Kohen’s chest and exited on the left side, said civil rights attorney Ben Crump, during a news conference Wednesday at Senatobia Church of Christ.
Crump, who stood with local attorneys, family members and community activists, said the findings support the family’s contention that the shot came from the side of the vehicle — not the front.
“The direction is from right to left, not front to back. They told us that, but they have not showed us that,” said Crump, referring to the official account that the vehicle moved toward officers.
Crump again demanded the release of police body camera video, dashcam video and Walmart surveillance footage, saying the family should not have to rely on diagrams, photographs and an independent autopsy to learn what happened.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation has said officers responded to a reported shoplifting call at the Walmart on U.S. 51 and attempted to stop a vehicle carrying two women and a child. The vehicle drove toward officers, nearly striking one, before an officer fired, according to MBI.
Kohen’s mother, Vel’lesiya “Punkin” Wiley, has disputed that account.
Crump and Memphis attorney Van Turner, who is part of the family’s legal team, have repeatedly said the family believes video from police and Walmart will show the officer was not in a life-or-death situation when he fired his gun.
Crump: ‘How do you justify that?’
Mitchell reviewed photographs of Kohen’s body and the vehicle, and examined the toddler’s body before burial. Mitchell did not reopen the body, said Crump, because the state had already performed an autopsy.
The forensic pathologist’s preliminary review found the cause of death to be a gunshot wound to the torso and classified the manner of death as homicide. In forensic terms, homicide is defined as death caused by another person with or without intent to cause harm.
Still, the key finding, said Crump, was the bullet’s path. The entrance wound appears on the right side of Kohen’s chest. The left side of his body shows the exit wound. The review also noted abrasions on the right side of his chest and abdomen consistent with “pseudo-stippling,” injuries that can occur when a bullet passes through glass before entering the body. The injuries support the conclusion the bullet passed through the side window’s tempered glass, said Crump, before striking Kohen.
“That’s the bullet that went through that window that killed Baby Kohen,” said Crump, pointing to enlarged photos and diagrams as he walked reporters and community members through the findings. “How do you justify that?”
Demands for video and police reform
The official autopsy report has not been completed, according to The Associated Press, and MBI has not commented publicly about Crump’s description of the preliminary independent findings. No video of the shooting has been released.
For Crump and Turner, the forensic review sharpens the central question about the shooting: If the vehicle was not driving toward police as the path of the bullet indicates, why did the officer fire?
“The kill shot came from the side, not the front,” said Turner. “Now we know how this young precious child died. The next thing for all the authorities to do is to release the video.”
Turner also renewed calls for local policy changes, pointing to the “8 Can’t Wait” national framework for police reform, including de-escalation, warnings before shooting, bans on shooting at moving vehicles and proportional use of force.
“Shoplifting diapers does not require deadly force,” said Turner.
Kohen was killed after officers responded to a reported shoplifting call involving diapers. That context remains important because, even if the allegation was true, the suspected offense did not justify firing into a vehicle where officers knew a baby was inside, said Crump.
“They didn’t get called saying that somebody had been shot in Walmart,” said Crump. “They didn’t get called saying that it was a strong-arm robbery in Walmart. They didn’t get called saying that this was a hostile situation in Walmart. No, we’re talking about a box of diapers.”
Wednesday’s news conference came four days after Kohen’s funeral in Pope, Mississippi, where hundreds gathered to remember him as a child full of laughter, who favored animated TV character Bluey and a toy lawnmower. It also followed two weeks of protests, marches, a town hall meeting and demands for transparency in Senatobia.
Community activist Patrick Lumumba said the release of the preliminary findings should intensify the movement around Kohen’s death, and spur the beginning of more in-depth organizing. A new group called the Senatobia Committee for Accountability and Transparency was formed, he said, to press the city’s board of aldermen for answers and reforms.
Kohen’s parents did not appear at Wednesday’s news conference. For them, the details of the forensic review were too painful in the wake of their son’s burial, said Crump. And Vel’lesiya Wiley still carries the trauma of holding her son immediately after he was shot.
“She did not deserve to have her baby get shot while he was in her arms,” said Crump.
