Hunter Foster

Introduction

Hunter Foster is a former sergeant with the Senatobia Police Department in Mississippi who resigned on October 23, 2026, days after the state released his body-worn camera footage from June 14, 2026 — the video showing him fire into a moving car outside a Walmart and shatter the window where 1-year-old Kohen Wiley sat on his mother’s lap. The boy died; the shot also wounded the driver. Foster had been cleared of criminal wrongdoing by the Mississippi Attorney General’s office three days earlier, and his resignation came amid national outrage, a family news conference led by attorney Ben Crump, and calls for the Justice Department to investigate .

Background Information

Foster had been a sergeant with the Senatobia Police Department in Senatobia, Mississippi — a town about 40 miles south of Memphis — when the June 14 shooting put it under national scrutiny. The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation said at the time that it was probing the child’s death, and Walmart said it was “saddened by what took place at our Senatobia, MS, store” . Reporting published after the shooting documented earlier complaints: in July, Mississippi Today reported internal accusations that Foster had made a racially offensive remark to a coworker days before Kohen was killed, and court records showed he had been named in two lawsuits alleging abuses against suspects at his previous law-enforcement jobs — one dismissed, the other ending in a confidential settlement .

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Cleared by the state, gone under public pressure. Foster was never charged with a crime: Attorney General Lynn Fitch’s office found the use of force justified and declined prosecution. His resignation followed the release of the footage and the family’s federal-investigation call — it is not a criminal outcome, and the family’s legal team disputes the state’s account.

On the afternoon of Sunday, June 14, 2026, Foster and four other Senatobia officers — alongside Tate County sheriff’s deputies — were at the town’s Walmart on an unrelated call when a store employee ran into the security room warning that “the two girls are running.” Latoya Ferrell, with Vellesiya Wiley and her son Kohen in the front passenger seat, pulled out of her parking space as officers converged with guns drawn, yelling for the car to stop. The car backed into a parked vehicle, then accelerated forward. Foster stepped in front of it toward the passenger side, put a hand on the hood, jumped clear, and fired into the car — shattering the window where Kohen sat on his mother’s lap, who had lifted the boy up, she said, to show officers a child was inside. The car drove away; Kohen was pronounced dead at a hospital and Ferrell was critically wounded .

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation wrote on the day of the shooting that “the driver drove in the direction of the officers, almost striking one,” and Foster’s attorney, Martin Zummach, has maintained he “had no choice” because the car was moving at the officers, saying “the driver of the vehicle was attempting to kill those 5 officers.” Foster later told another law-enforcement official he could not see that a baby was in the car, other bodycam video shows. The women — suspected of stealing a pack of diapers and baby clothes, which they deny — were never charged, and court records show no shoplifting evidence was filed. On October 19, Fitch’s office announced it found the use of force justified, writing that there was “insufficient evidence of any criminal conduct to present this case to a grand jury” .

On October 22, the Mississippi Department of Public Safety released the footage — including Foster’s bodycam video and parking-lot surveillance — days after bodycam footage from other officers at the scene leaked. Crump, who reviewed it with the family that morning, said the video shows the fatal shot came from the side of the car, an independent autopsy commissioned by the family reached the same conclusion, and that “this was excessive from the very start… They came out with guns drawn for a shoplifting misdemeanor.” Two days later, Mayor Greg Graves confirmed that Foster had resigned, turning in his badge, gun, and a resignation letter; his attorney said Foster resigned “for the good of the city and the police department and to permit the process of healing” and denies knowing a child was in the car .

Public Reaction and Consequences

The shooting caused an uproar in Senatobia, where Black residents had long complained of police harassment, and became national news. At the family’s October 22 news conference, Crump said “the bullet that killed 1-year-old baby Kohen Wiley was not justified” and that firing into a busy parking lot was reckless — “it’s a miracle no one else was hit.” Kohen’s grandmother, Veronica Roberson, said “the word ‘justified’ has haunted me.” After the resignation, Crump called on the Justice Department to open an investigation, saying “accountability can’t end here.” The case was also the second police crisis in Senatobia in a month: former Chief Harold Vanderford was fired in September after reporters disclosed racist slurs in his text messages .

Current Status

As of October 23, 2026, Foster had resigned from the Senatobia Police Department and faces no criminal charges — the state attorney general’s review closed the case without prosecution. The family’s legal team is pressing the federal government to investigate the shooting, and the dispute over the footage continues: the family’s attorneys and their independent autopsy say the video undercuts the state’s finding, while Foster’s attorney calls the outcome “not only expected, but… overdue.” No civil lawsuit filed by the family had been reported in the coverage consulted .

Impact on Their Career/Life

Foster’s law-enforcement career ended with a resignation letter written, per his lawyer, to let the city heal — with no prosecution, but with his name permanently attached to one of the year’s most widely covered police shootings of a child. The prior internal complaint and the two settled or dismissed lawsuits surfaced after the shooting, and the resignation leaves open the family’s push for a federal probe and any future decertification review. For Senatobia, the case compounded a trust crisis that already claimed its police chief, and Kohen — who would have turned two on November 1 — became the town’s symbol of why residents stopped trusting the department that employed Foster .

Sources

NY Post, “Police officer who shot and killed 1-year-old boy in Mississippi has resigned, Senatobia mayor says,” October 23, 2026 — source
CNN, “Mississippi police officer resigns after fatal shooting of Kohen Wiley,” October 23, 2026 — source
NBC News, “Mississippi police officer who fatally shot 1-year-old Kohen Wiley has resigned,” October 23, 2026 — source
CBS News, “Mississippi police officer resigns after shooting that killed 1-year-old Kohen Wiley,” October 23, 2026 — source
Mississippi Free Press, “Senatobia Police Officer Quits After Kohen Wiley Tape Released,” October 2026 — source
Mississippi Free Press, “Kohen Wiley Shooting ‘Was Justified,’ Mississippi AG Says,” October 2026 — source
CNN, “Mississippi child killed after police shoot at vehicle while responding to shoplifting call,” June 15, 2026 — source