SENATOBIA, Miss. (Aug. 25, 2026) –– Nationally renowned civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump, who represents the family of Kohen Wiley, is renewing calls for transparency and accountability in the 1-year-old’s death. The family is demanding that the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation (MBI) release body-camera and surveillance footage from the fatal encounter following reporting by The New York Times that Senatobia Police Chief Harold Vanderford used racial slurs more than a dozen times, including after becoming chief.
Sgt. Hunter Foster was identified in MBI records as the subject of its investigation and was placed on administrative leave following the shooting. Foster was accused in an internal complaint of making a racially offensive remark toward a Black officer just two days before Kohen was killed, as reported by Mississippi Today. Kohen was fatally shot June 14 while in a vehicle outside a Walmart in Senatobia, where officers had responded to a reported shoplifting incident. A woman who was with Kohen’s mother was accused of shoplifting diapers but has not been charged with a crime. MBI has said an officer opened fire during the encounter, fatally striking Kohen.
Attorney Crump issued the following statement:
“A 1-year-old baby was shot and killed by police, and more than two months later, his family is still being denied the most basic thing they deserve: the full truth. The reports of racist language within the Senatobia Police Department are reprehensible and make the continued secrecy and lack of cooperation surrounding Kohen’s death even more unacceptable. Kohen’s family deserves answers. We will not stop fighting until the truth is revealed and justice is served. MBI has the footage. Release it. No more delays and no more excuses.”
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Through his work, nationally renowned civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump has spearheaded a legal movement to better protect the rights of marginalized citizens. He has led landscape-changing civil rights cases and represented clients in a wide range of areas including civil rights, personal injury, labor and employment, class actions, and more. Ben Crump Law is dedicated to holding the powerful accountable. For more information, visit bencrump.com
