PHOENIX — Phoenix City Councilwoman Anna Hernandez is expressing solidarity with the family of Kohen Wiley ahead of a November 2 protest challenging Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch’s determination that the toddler’s fatal shooting by a Senatobia police officer was justified.
Hernandez, who represents Phoenix City Council District 7, joined calls for the full public release of footage, accountability and a federal investigation.
The demonstration is scheduled for Monday outside the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office in Jackson. According to the announcement, it falls one day after what would have been Kohen’s second birthday and one day before the midterm elections.
Family Seeks Federal Investigation
According to the announcement provided by Hernandez’s office, Senatobia police responded to a shoplifting call at a Walmart on June 14, 2026. Officers approached the vehicle carrying Kohen with their weapons drawn.
The announcement describes Kohen’s mother, Vellesiya Wiley, lifting him to show officers that a child was inside. It states that Sergeant Hunter Foster fired into the vehicle, killing Kohen while his mother held him and wounding a family friend.
Neither woman has been charged with a crime, according to the announcement.
On October 19, Fitch’s office announced that Foster would not face charges. Kohen’s family, represented by civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and Van Turner, is petitioning the U.S. Department of Justice to open a federal investigation, the announcement states.
Hernandez Calls for Transparency and Accountability
“Kohen Wiley should be turning two this weekend,” Hernandez said in the statement. “Instead, his family is spending his birthday fighting for the truth about why a police officer fired into a car while his mother held him up for officers to see.”
Hernandez said she stands with Kohen’s family and the organizers gathering in Jackson, including Bettersten Wade and Marquell Bridges.
“I join their call for full public release of the footage, for accountability, and for a federal investigation,” she said.
Hernandez also connected the family’s demands to her office’s work in Phoenix, citing public safety, community participation in budget decisions and government accountability.
“Justice for Kohen is justice for all of our children,” she said.
Families and Organizations Plan Jackson Demonstration
The protest is co-convened by Bettersten Wade, whose son, Dexter Wade, was killed by Jackson police and whose death was concealed from her for months, according to the announcement. Her brother, George Robinson, was also killed by Jackson police in 2019.
Wade has held monthly demonstrations outside the attorney general’s office.
“We are gathering for Baby Kohen Wiley, and we are also gathering for all of those who are killed by police in this state,” Wade said.
Marquell Bridges of the Building Bridges Coalition also urged participation.
“We will not sit by and watch as the state continues to murder our children. WE WILL BE OUTSIDE!” Bridges said.
Organizers allege that the attorney general’s office has not held officers accountable in any of 20 police killings of Mississippians in 2023 and 2024. The supplied announcement does not include supporting case records or a response from Fitch’s office to that claim.
November 2 Protest Details
- What: Protest challenging the determination that Kohen Wiley’s fatal shooting was justified.
- When: Monday, November 2, 2026. A start time was not included in the announcement.
- Where: Outside the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office, 550 High St., Jackson, Mississippi.
- Participants listed by organizers: Kohen Wiley’s family, Black Lives Matter Grassroots, Building Bridges Coalition, Jackson People’s Assembly, NAACP Legal Defense Fund and Justice Families.
Black Lives Matter Grassroots describes its mission as supporting community organizing and initiatives advancing Black liberation and ending state-sanctioned violence against Black people.
Source: Announcement provided by the Office of Phoenix Councilwoman Anna Hernandez.
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