A Mississippi police officer and an interim police chief resigned on Friday, October 23, 2026, four months after the fatal shooting of a 1-year-old child. Hunter Foster, the officer who fired the shot that killed Kohen Wiley, left the Senatobia Police Department following the conclusion of a state-level criminal investigation. Angelica Maze, who had served as the interim chief, also submitted her resignation.
The shooting occurred in mid-June in a Walmart parking lot. According to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, officers were responding to a shoplifting call involving two adults and a child. The bureau reported that as the suspects attempted to flee in a vehicle, the driver drove toward officers. Foster then discharged his weapon into the vehicle, fatally striking the child.
While officials alleged the child's mother and a friend stole diapers, neither woman has been charged. This week, Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch cleared Foster of criminal wrongdoing, stating that the use of force was justified. Foster’s attorney, Martin Zummach, stated that his client resigned to permit a process of healing for the city and the department, despite being cleared.
The resignations affect law enforcement oversight for the approximately 8,000 residents of Senatobia, Mississippi. The case has focused national attention on the city's police department, which has faced multiple leadership changes in two months. In September 2026, the former chief, Harold Vanderford, was fired following reports that he used racist slurs in text messages. The departure of both the officer involved in the shooting and the interim chief leaves the department under new leadership as civil rights advocates continue to seek federal intervention.
For the family of Kohen Wiley and residents of Senatobia, the immediate change is the removal of the specific officer and administrative head involved during the shooting's aftermath. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, representing the family, noted that the child was killed during a response to an alleged shoplifting of diapers. The family and their legal representatives are calling for the U.S. Department of Justice to open an investigation into the shooting.
The next steps involve the Senatobia city government appointing a new police chief to stabilize a department that has seen two leaders depart since September. Federal authorities have not announced whether they will open a Department of Justice probe. There is no reported timeline for when a permanent replacement for the chief of police will be hired or if any administrative policy changes regarding the use of force against moving vehicles will be implemented.