The family of a one-year-old boy fatally shot by a Mississippi police officer is demanding federal intervention after state authorities ruled the shooting justified, a decision that has sparked outrage and renewed questions about police use of force.

Mississippi officials released body camera footage Oct. 22 showing the June 14 shooting of Kohen Kartier Wiley outside a Walmart in Senatobia, Mississippi. The release came three days after Attorney General Lynn Fitch’s office announced that the officer’s actions were justified and declined to pursue criminal charges.

For Kohen’s family, the ruling and the release of the footage have deepened their grief.

“The word ‘justified’ has haunted me since Monday,” said Veronica Roberson, Kohen’s maternal grandmother, during an emotional news conference alongside civil rights attorney Ben Crump.

Roberson criticized authorities for failing to notify the family before announcing the decision and allowing portions of the footage to reach news outlets before relatives could view it privately.

“I feel like we’ve been robbed of this experience,” she said.

The shooting occurred when Senatobia police responded to a reported shoplifting incident involving diapers. Body camera footage shows Kohen’s mother, Vellesiya Wiley, carrying the toddler as she and another woman hurried toward a vehicle in the Walmart parking lot.

Officers approached with weapons drawn, ordering the occupants to stop. The driver backed into a parked vehicle before accelerating forward and turning left near several officers.

Sgt. Hunter Foster fired into the moving vehicle, including from the passenger side where Kohen was sitting in his mother’s lap. The encounter unfolded within seconds.

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation initially reported that the vehicle drove toward officers, nearly striking one. Foster’s attorney has maintained that the officer faced an immediate threat.

However, Crump and Memphis attorney Van Turner dispute whether deadly force was necessary, particularly when the officer fired from the vehicle’s side.

“This was excessive from the very start,” Crump said. “I mean, they came out with guns drawn for a shoplifting misdemeanor.”

Crump argued that officers could have recorded the vehicle’s license plate and investigated the alleged theft later rather than escalating the confrontation.

An independent forensic review commissioned by the family’s legal team previously determined that the bullet that killed Kohen entered the right side of his chest and exited the left.

Crump contends that the fatal shot was fired after the vehicle had moved past the officer and no longer posed an immediate threat. The attorneys were still reviewing the precise timing of the shots.

“What we know based on our observation of the video, the third bullet from the side, the bullet that killed one-year-old Baby Kohen Wiley, was not justified,” Crump said.

Turner questioned whether the vehicle was attempting to strike officers or simply escape.

“Was the car an incoming threat or was the car attempting to flee?” Turner asked. “The car was attempting to flee when that last shot was fired.”

The attorneys announced plans to seek a federal investigation involving the U.S. Department of Justice and FBI.

Multiple news outlets have reported that Foster resigned from the Senatobia Police Department. Turner also called for the revocation of Foster’s law enforcement certification to prevent him from joining another department.

The shooting has fueled months of demonstrations and demands for accountability in Senatobia. Community activists say the state’s decision has intensified concerns about transparency and police conduct.

The department has also experienced leadership changes. Former Police Chief Harold ‘Hal’ Vanderford was fired in September amid controversy over racist language in private text messages. Angelica Maze was subsequently named interim chief.

For Kohen’s relatives, the legal battle remains deeply personal.

“Somebody got to help us with this,” Roberson said. “And I won’t stop until we get justice for my grandbaby.”

Kohen, remembered by relatives as a playful toddler who loved the cartoon character Bluey and pushing his toy lawnmower, was laid to rest June 27 following a funeral in Pope, Mississippi.

He would have celebrated his second birthday Nov. 1.

His paternal grandmother, Lassandra Williams, said she cannot reconcile the state’s ruling with the loss of her grandson.

“I don’t understand how it’s okay for someone to take a sweet—I’m talking about a sweet, innocent soul,” Williams said.

“Lord knows I miss him so much.”