PACE Requests Federal Civil Rights Inquiry into Police Shooting Death of Baby Kohen Wiley in Senatobia
DOJ Civil Rights Report No. 801660-CXK seeks review of evidence preservation, police hiring practices, supervision, accountability, and community protection from retaliation.
Parent Action Coalition for Education (PACE), a nonprofit organization that advocates on behalf of youth, parents, families, and communities, has submitted a formal civil-rights report to the United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division requesting federal review into the fatal police shooting of one-year-old Kohen Wiley in Senatobia, Mississippi.
DOJ Civil Rights Record No.: 801660-CXK
This request is made because the community continues to face unanswered questions regarding the shooting, evidence preservation, police hiring practices, officer supervision, public accountability, and equal protection under the law. Public reporting confirms that one-year-old Kohen Wiley was fatally shot during a police encounter in the Walmart parking lot in Senatobia on June 14, 2026. The Guardian reported that a Mississippi police officer was placed on administrative leave after the shooting, and that the incident sparked protests and demands for transparency.
Additional reporting by Mississippi Free Press stated that public records identified Senatobia Police Sergeant Hunter Foster as one of the officers present during the shooting, while heavy redactions prevented public confirmation of which officer fired the weapon.
PACE is not publishing rumor as fact. However, the community has heard reports that Foster is being protected from public exposure for his safety while residents themselves remain without clear answers about their own safety, the extent of his protection, whether he remains on paid leave, and why no arrest or public charge has been announced. These concerns must be answered by official investigation, not silence.
Public docket records also show that Hunter Foster was previously named as a defendant in Jefferson v. DeSoto County, Mississippi et al., Case No. 3:2023-cv-00012, a federal civil-rights case classified as “Civil Rights: Other.” This is not submitted as proof of liability, but it raises serious public-interest questions about whether the City of Senatobia conducted proper background review, civil-rights litigation review, use-of-force review, training review, and supervisory review before hiring or promoting officers entrusted with police authority.
Deputy Hunter Foster case while serving in Desoto County
The community is also concerned by city meeting records and agenda materials that appear to show questions being raised about hiring practices and background checks. If city leadership accepted questionable hiring practices as common or routine, then federal review is necessary to determine whether public safety and constitutional rights were placed at risk.
The issue is larger than one officer. It is about whether Senatobia residents can trust that law enforcement authority is being exercised fairly, lawfully, and equally. Citizens should not fear retaliation for speaking, publishing, protesting, praying, organizing, or demanding justice. Citizens should not fear that official power will protect an officer while the people remain unprotected.
PACE is requesting that the DOJ, FBI, and U.S. Attorney’s Office review whether there has been excessive force, deprivation of rights under color of law, failure to train or supervise, retaliation or intimidation, or a broader pattern or practice of unconstitutional policing. The FBI states that it is the lead federal agency for investigating color-of-law violations, including acts by government officials using official authority. DOJ also states that federal law allows review of law-enforcement agencies that may be engaged in a pattern or practice violating people’s federal rights.
PACE calls for the preservation and federal review of all body-camera footage, dash-camera footage, Walmart surveillance footage, 911 calls, dispatch audio, radio traffic, police reports, firearm evidence, personnel records, hiring records, training records, disciplinary records, promotion records, MBI investigative materials, and chain-of-custody records.
This is not peace. Peace requires truth. Peace requires transparency. Peace requires equal protection under the law. Peace requires that the death of a baby in broad daylight not be answered with silence, delay, redaction, rumor, or unequal justice.
PACE calls on national civil-rights leaders, clergy, Black media, congressional offices, legal advocates, and concerned citizens to support a full federal civil-rights inquiry into the shooting death of Baby Kohen Wiley and the hiring and supervision practices of the City of Senatobia.
The request is simple: preserve the evidence, review the hiring record, protect the community from retaliation, and let truth—not politics, friendship, fear, or white supremacy—be the answer.
