‘Can’t get him back’: Family and community mourn toddler killed in Senatobia
By Gwen Dilworth | Originally published by Mississippi Today
SENATOBIA – A crowd of family and friends gathered outside a Senatobia Walmart Wednesday to honor the life of a 1-year-old killed in a law enforcement shooting and to demand justice and accountability.
The night before, police fired tear gas in an attempt to disperse protesters from the same location.
Toddler Kohen Wiley’s father, who asked that his name not be published to maintain his privacy, told Mississippi Today his son’s smile, eyes and personality were some of his most notable qualities. He said Kohen meant the world to him.
“Can’t get him back, you know what I’m saying?” he said Wednesday. “It hasn’t hit me yet.”
Kohen was in the car Sunday with his mother and a family friend in the parking lot of Walmart when police officers and Tate County sheriff’s deputies responded to an alleged shoplifting and tried to stop the car. State officials said the driver drove in the officers’ direction and nearly hit one, leading an officer to fire at the car.
Kohen’s mother said that before the shooting she tried to tell officers a child was in the car, according to national civil rights attorney Ben Crump, part of the legal team representing the child’s family.
Family members said the woman and family friend did not shoplift and were buying diapers. Kohen died from his injuries and the family friend was critically wounded.
Shaquita Norwood, Kohen’s cousin, said she feels disgust and sadness that her children did not have the opportunity to spend more time with Kohen.
“It’s hurtful because the baby didn’t have a chance to live life,” she said.
Norwood, who was at the Tuesday night gathering, said she believes the use of tear gas was unnecessary because the demonstration remained peaceful and included many children. She said the gas burned her 12-year-old child’s eyes and irritated her 4-year-old’s nose.
Family and friends taped posters to the wall near the store’s garden center Wednesday, calling for the release of body camera and video footage and for criminal charges against the officer who fired the weapon. They also displayed photographs of Kohen and his family.
A Walmart representative asked the demonstrators to remove the posters from the store’s facade but said he would allow them to construct a memorial at the site, where family members would be able to stay for limited periods of time. He then asked the press to leave the property and said they would be cited for trespassing if they did not leave. The Tate County Sheriff’s Department and Senatobia Police patrolled the Walmart entrance and parking lot throughout the day.
WAPT reported on Tuesday the officer involved in the shooting was put on administrative leave.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, which investigates shootings involving law enforcement, will present findings to the attorney general’s office.
In a Sunday statement, the Senatobia Police Department said the office is committed to full transparency.
“As the investigation progresses and facts are verified, we will share as much information as possible,” the statement said.
The Tate County Sheriff’s Department acknowledged the incident in a Tuesday post to social media.
Marquell Bridges, the president of the grassroots organization Building Bridges Coalition who is acting as a spokesperson for Kohen’s family, said protesters attended a Tuesday Board of Aldermen meeting to request the release of video footage and the termination of the officer involved in the shooting. He said the board did not vote in favor of either request.
Protesters then gathered at Walmart, where law enforcement used tear gas in an attempt to force those gathered out of the area after about an hour. Video footage shows officers in riot gear.
Bridges said the demonstration at Walmart was peaceful, and that protestors remained all night, dancing and making videos, even after police used tear gas.
“We’re showing real Black power, Black unity and Black love,” he said.
In a statement, the city of Senatobia acknowledged that many questions remain about the shooting.
“We respectfully ask our community to avoid speculation and the spread of unverified information while the investigation is underway. Please allow the investigative process to take its course so that the facts — not rumors or assumptions — guide our understanding of this tragic event.”
For many Senatobia and nearby residents, the news of Kohen’s death struck a personal chord. Many people said they believed the shooting represented a broader pattern of excessive law enforcement force against Black people.
Christine D., a Walls resident who asked that her last name not be published for fear of retaliation, said she did not believe there was any justification for the use of deadly force. She said she traveled to Senatobia Wednesday to support any demonstrations.
She used to live two minutes away from the Walmart. Her young children are biracial, and when she heard the news of Kohen’s death, she couldn’t help but think of her own children, who were near his age when they lived in Senatobia.
“I worry about the world that exists right now,” she said. “This isn’t the world that I want for them. I knew that I had to fight for them. I’m fighting for their future.”
Phisa Smith, a Senatobia resident who was filling her tank at a nearby gas station on Wednesday, said she wants the police officer involved in the shooting to be held accountable. While she said she did not know whether the shoplifting allegations were true, she argued that the offense was not serious enough to justify shooting at a vehicle, especially given the current economic challenges many people in Senatobia are facing.
“A child was killed here that had a chance to live a productive life,” she said. “It was taken away from him.”
Jennifer Tinnel of Crenshaw, an Amazon worker who frequently stops at the Walmart in Senatobia on her way home from work, said law enforcement presence at the store Wednesday scared her.
Tinnel, who is Black, has three sons. Learning of Kohen’s death on social media made her think of her family and the racism they have experienced.
“That could have been my child,” she said.
This article was originally published by Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Source: Original Article
