Answers Needed by the Family After the Killing of a Boy by the Police, 1
A family in Mississippi is seeking answers after a 1-year-old boy was shot and killed by police in a Walmart parking lot.
Human rights lawyer Ben Crump announced Cohen Wiley's family plans to seek an autopsy and is asking police to release body camera and surveillance footage of the incident during a press conference on Monday, June 22.
The family wants an independent evaluation of the evidence in the case, while not relying solely on the findings of the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation.
“They won't tell anyone how Cohen died,” Crump said at a press conference. “Truth will be tested by a person who answers to no one except the facts.”
Crump added that an independent autopsy will help determine details about Cohen's death, including entry and exit wounds and the direction of the shooting.
Attorney and Counselor Van Turner he also asked authorities to release body camera footage taken of the officers involved in the incident, as well as surveillance video from the parking lot.
“We follow behind what they do because we don't trust them,” said Turner. “If they were honest, the video would have come out days ago.”
Lawyers spoke on behalf of the family eight days after Cohen was killed during a police standoff outside a Walmart in Senatobia.
Earlier, the Mississippi Department of Public Safety said police responded to a shoplifting call on June 14, where they found two adults and a child allegedly leaving the area in a car.
The police tried to stop the car, but the driver allegedly almost hit the police when he was heading towards them. The officer then opened fire on the car before the occupants of the car left the scene.
The three people later arrived at a nearby hospital and Kohen was pronounced dead.
The victim's family disagrees with the authorities' account of the incident, and told FOX13 Memphis that the police “just opened fire on the car.”
Wiley's mother also spoke about the incident during the press conference. “I watched my child take a breath, I watched him take his last breath,” she said. “Please keep my family in your prayers and justice for the child Kohen.”
The Mississippi Department of Public Safety had no additional information to share when contacted Us Weekly.
