Shocking final moments of baby captured on police bodycam after his mother and aunt 'shoplifted' at Walmart then drove car at cops who opened fire
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Chaotic bodycam footage has revealed the moments that led up to the fatal police shooting of a one-year-old boy in a Mississippi parking lot after his mother allegedly tried to flee officers.
The tragic episode unfolded on June 14 outside a Walmart in Senatobia, Mississippi, where toddler Kohen Wiley was shot dead in a car after his mother Vellesiya Wiley and his aunt were allegedly caught shoplifting.
The shooting sparked outrage and led to allegations of police brutality, but the release of the footage came as Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch announced no charges would be filed against the officers who opened fire.
Fitch said a review 'found the use of force was justified,' with the footage showing the officers were called into action after Wiley and another woman allegedly stole from the Walmart.
The footage, first shared by Darkhorse Press, began with a man running into the Walmart security office to warn the officers an active theft was in progress, as he said: 'Two women are running, two women are running.'
Several officers then leapt into action, sprinted to the parking lot and caught up with Wiley in her vehicle as she appeared to be trying to get away.
A group of officers surrounded the mother's vehicle and ordered her repeatedly to 'stop the car,' but within seconds her sister, who was driving, accelerated toward the police and slammed her vehicle into them.
A number of gunshots rang out as she accelerated forward, and officials said the one-year-old was shot dead.
Chaotic bodycam footage has revealed the moments that led up to the fatal police shooting of a one-year-old boy in a Mississippi parking lot after his mother allegedly tried to flee officers
Kohen Wiley, one, was shot dead in a Walmart parking lot in June after his mother Vellesiya Wiley and her sister were allegedly caught shoplifting and officers opened fire to stop them fleeing
Officials said Wiley's sister was the one driving the vehicle, and Wiley claimed that officers knew a baby was in the car because she raised Kohen in the air during the exchange.
Wiley's attorney, Ben Crump, said the two women deny the allegations that they were shoplifting, and neither have been charged with a crime in connection with the incident.
Following an investigation into the shooting by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, findings presented to the attorney general resulted in no charges being brought against the officers involved.
Fitch's office said in a statement this week that the use of force was determined to be 'justified,' but did not give details of its reasoning.
Crump previously told the Daily Mail that the officer who shot the toddler, Senatobia Police Sergeant Hunter Foster, had allegedly faced a complaint for making a racially offensive remark two days before the shooting.
The footage showed Wiley's mother running out of the Walmart seconds before officers chased after her
Kohen Wiley, one, died after a police officer opened fire outside a small town Walmart where they had been responding to a shoplifting call in June. Kohen is pictured with his mother
The infant was fatally shot in the ribcage and was pronounced dead at a local hospital
A bullet hole can be seen appearing to have struck the passenger side of the vehicle
In a video released days after the shooting, Vellesiya denied that she or her sister stole anything and disputed that her sister, who was driving, headed toward the officers.
She also said that she 'raised' her baby up in the air 'to show them (the police officers) that he was in the car.'
However, an officer opened fire, and one of the bullets struck the boy in his rib cage.
'We left and went to Senatobia Hospital, where he was pronounced dead,' the heartbroken mother said.
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