Sergeant Hunter Foster Linked to Baby Kohen Wiley's Death Had Prior Misconduct Complaint

Sergeant Hunter Foster of the Senatobia Police Department has been named in public records and independently confirmed by FOX13 Memphis as the officer involved in the fatal shooting of 1-year-old Kohen Kartier Wiley on 14 June 2026. The toddler was killed when an officer fired into a silver sedan in the car park of a Walmart on US Highway 51 in Senatobia, Mississippi, during a response to a shoplifting call. A family friend travelling in the same vehicle was critically injured.

Community advocate Marquell Bridges alleged in a Facebook post — a claim IBTimes UK has not been able to independently verify and which no official agency has confirmed or denied — that Foster had a complaint filed against him by a fellow officer for using racial slurs inside the police precinct just days before the shooting. Bridges has not provided documentation of the complaint, and it does not appear in any public record reviewed by IBTimes UK.

Named But Not Officially Confirmed

Public records obtained by Action News 5 listed Foster alongside Kohen Wiley, his mother Vellesiya Wiley and a third person as those involved in the incident. However, the MBI incident report was too heavily redacted to confirm Foster as the officer who fired. FOX13 Memphis, which had been pressing authorities for days, independently confirmed Foster's identity on 19 June, noting that the MBI said it had released his name to another outlet by mistake but declined to officially confirm it themselves.

Foster was hired by the Senatobia Police Department on 4 March 2025 and promoted to Patrol Sergeant just six months later, in September 2025. Mayor Greg Graves and the police chief did not respond to requests for confirmation of Foster's role, with a staffer telling Action News 5 that all further information must come from the MBI.

'They Fired Anyway'

Kohen's mother gave her account in a video. She said she was sitting in the passenger seat holding her son when she saw officers running towards the car with weapons drawn. 'I raised my baby up, trying to show them that he was in the car,' she said. 'By the time I sat my baby down, it was like three to four shots.'

She also disputed the official account that the vehicle was driven towards officers, saying they were on the right side of the car while it moved to the left. 'They just purposely shot at the car,' she said. The family denies that any shoplifting took place.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, retained by the Wiley family, said in a statement: 'Kohen Wiley was a baby. His mother, who has not been charged with any crime, says she was trying to communicate to officers that there was a baby in the car. They fired anyway, leading to the death of an innocent 1-year-old. We intend to seek justice for baby Kohen and the life that was stolen from him.'

Tear Gas Deployed as 200 Protesters Gather Outside City Hall

Protests erupted in the days following the shooting. More than 200 people assembled outside Senatobia City Hall on 16 June, before crowds moved to the Walmart car park where officers in riot gear deployed tear gas to disperse demonstrators. That evening, the mayor and Board of Aldermen confirmed the officer had been placed on administrative leave, standard procedure following a deadly police shooting.

Kohen's great-grandmother, Carolyn Stokes, 72, said the shooting was 'reckless' and 'unnecessary to be firing into a car,' adding: 'Why did you draw your weapon on people that were potential shoplifters?'

The death of Kohen Wiley has become a focal point for broader concerns about police use of force and officer vetting in the United States. The racial slur complaint, alleged by a community advocate on social media and unverified by any official record, represents — if proven — a potential warning sign that preceded a fatal outcome. With body camera footage still withheld and no charges filed, the Wiley family, their legal team and demonstrators in Senatobia are pressing for full transparency and accountability.