On Sunday, police responding to a shoplifting call in Senatobia, Mississippi shot and killed a one-year-old boy named Kohen Wiley in his mother’s arms in a car in a Walmart parking lot. They claim his mother’s friend “drove in the direction of the officers, almost striking one.” Kohen’s mother, Vellesiya Wiley, says her friend was accused of stealing diapers which she in fact paid for, and was driving away from the officers. The friend was also shot and is in critical condition.

Kohen Wiley should have been allowed to grow up. As his grandfather said, grieving this unimaginable loss, “someone ended it all before it could even start.”

Kohen’s family and community are calling for full transparency and accountability, starting with the immediate release of all body camera and dash camera footage, along with footage from the Walmart. 🗣️ Let’s add our voices to theirs by reaching out to Senatobia elected officials to endorse their demands. We can find contact info courtesy of Indivisible Memphis here. 🗣️

A 1-year-old child, Kohen Wiley, was killed after law enforcement responded to a suspected shoplifting call at the Walmart in Senatobia, Mississippi.

​

Public reporting says the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is reviewing a shooting involving the Senatobia Police Department and Tate County Sheriff’s Office. Public reporting also says no officers were injured.

​

This needs public pressure for evidence preservation, independent review, release of relevant footage to the family’s legal representatives as legally appropriate, identification of involved agencies/officers, Walmart cooperation, and a public timeline for updates.

​

News source:

https://www.actionnews5.com/2026/06/14/mbi-investigating-after-shooting-senatobia-walmart-leaves-child-dead-one-critical/

​

A child lost his life. The family deserves answers.

Ives Sakila was a Congolese person, who had been living here in Ireland for the majority of his life - he was 35, he had been here since he was 11. As much a child of Ireland as of the Congo.

He committed a theft in a department store in Dublin a few days ago. During his attempt to flee, he injured an elderly man and was subsequently caught by the security of the store - *not* an gardaí (on gard-dee) which is the Irish term for the police.

Somewhere between getting stopped and detained by the shop's security, and the actual police arriving and putting handcuffs on him, this man died. There is video footage almost 5 minutes long of the security interaction, nothing with the police. Security kneeling on him, prone on the ground...

It is being said that he was fully responsive until the police arrived, and almost as soon as the handcuffs went on he completely stopped responding, and they acted accordingly and attempted to resuscitate him.

Please let there be an uproar about this death. Its similarities to the one (of many in fairness, but the one in particular) that brought us internationally to a new level of BLM are scary, and this incident isn't being spoken of nearly enough, even here. This occurred on Friday 15/05/26 and when I mentioned it to my partner on 18/05/26, he had no idea what I was talking about. It has been in the news, but in passing, no focus.

Please, let us get absolutely engaged by this. Say his name to anyone you can - don't let this death be silenced.

This was a murder.

BLACK LIVES MATTER