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SENATOBIA – A crowd of family and friends gathered outside a Senatobia Walmart Wednesday to honor the life of a 1-year-old killed in a law enforcement shooting and to demand justice and accountability. 

The night before, police fired tear gas in an attempt to disperse protesters from the same location. 

Toddler Kohen Wiley’s father, who asked that his name not be published to maintain his privacy, told Mississippi Today his son’s smile, eyes and personality were some of his most notable qualities. He said Kohen meant the world to him. 

“Can’t get him back, you know what I’m saying?” he said Wednesday. “It hasn’t hit me yet.” 

Kohen was in the car Sunday with his mother and a family friend in the parking lot of Walmart when police officers and Tate County sheriff’s deputies responded to an alleged shoplifting and tried to stop the car. State officials said the driver drove in the officers’ direction and nearly hit one, leading an officer to fire at the car. 

Kohen’s mother said that before the shooting she tried to tell officers a child was in the car, according to national civil rights attorney Ben Crump, part of the legal team representing the child’s family. 

Family members said the woman and family friend did not shoplift and were buying diapers. Kohen died from his injuries and the family friend was critically wounded.

Shaquita Norwood, Kohen’s cousin, said she feels disgust and sadness that her children did not have the opportunity to spend more time with Kohen.

“It’s hurtful because the baby didn’t have a chance to live life,” she said.

Norwood, who was at the Tuesday night gathering, said she believes the use of tear gas was unnecessary because the demonstration remained peaceful and included many children. She said the gas burned her 12-year-old child’s eyes and irritated her 4-year-old’s nose.

Family and friends taped posters to the wall near the store’s garden center Wednesday, calling for the release of body camera and video footage and for criminal charges against the officer who fired the weapon. They also displayed photographs of Kohen and his family.

A Walmart representative asked the demonstrators to remove the posters from the store’s facade but said he would allow them to construct a memorial at the site, where family members would be able to stay for limited periods of time. He then asked the press to leave the property and said they would be cited for trespassing if they did not leave. The Tate County Sheriff’s Department and Senatobia Police patrolled the Walmart entrance and parking lot throughout the day. 

WAPT reported on Tuesday the officer involved in the shooting was put on administrative leave.

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, which investigates shootings involving law enforcement, will present findings to the attorney general’s office. 

In a Sunday statement, the Senatobia Police Department said the office is committed to full transparency. 

“As the investigation progresses and facts are verified, we will share as much information as possible,” the statement said. 

The Tate County Sheriff’s Department acknowledged the incident in a Tuesday post to social media. 

Marquell Bridges, the president of the grassroots organization Building Bridges Coalition who is acting as a spokesperson for Kohen’s family, said protesters attended a Tuesday Board of Aldermen meeting to request the release of video footage and the termination of the officer involved in the shooting. He said the board did not vote in favor of either request. 

Protesters then gathered at Walmart, where law enforcement used tear gas in an attempt to force those gathered out of the area after about an hour. Video footage shows officers in riot gear. 

Bridges said the demonstration at Walmart was peaceful, and that protestors remained all night, dancing and making videos, even after police used tear gas. 

“We’re showing real Black power, Black unity and Black love,” he said. 

In a statement, the city of Senatobia acknowledged that many questions remain about the shooting. 

“We respectfully ask our community to avoid speculation and the spread of unverified information while the investigation is underway. Please allow the investigative process to take its course so that the facts — not rumors or assumptions — guide our understanding of this tragic event.”

For many Senatobia and nearby residents, the news of Kohen’s death struck a personal chord. Many people said they believed the shooting represented a broader pattern of excessive law enforcement force against Black people. 

Christine D., a Walls resident who asked that her last name not be published for fear of retaliation, said she did not believe there was any justification for the use of deadly force. She said she traveled to Senatobia Wednesday to support any demonstrations.

She used to live two minutes away from the Walmart. Her young children are biracial, and when she heard the news of Kohen’s death, she couldn’t help but think of her own children, who were near his age when they lived in Senatobia. 

“I worry about the world that exists right now,” she said. “This isn’t the world that I want for them. I knew that I had to fight for them. I’m fighting for their future.”

Phisa Smith, a Senatobia resident who was filling her tank at a nearby gas station on Wednesday, said she wants the police officer involved in the shooting to be held accountable. While she said she did not know whether the shoplifting allegations were true, she argued that the offense was not serious enough to justify shooting at a vehicle, especially given the current economic challenges many people in Senatobia are facing.

“A child was killed here that had a chance to live a productive life,” she said. “It was taken away from him.” 

Jennifer Tinnel of Crenshaw, an Amazon worker who frequently stops at the Walmart in Senatobia on her way home from work, said law enforcement presence at the store Wednesday scared her. 

Tinnel, who is Black, has three sons. Learning of Kohen’s death on social media made her think of her family and the racism they have experienced.

“That could have been my child,” she said. 

Allen Siegler, mental health reporter for Mississippi Today, was awarded the Community Champion Award from the Institute for Nonprofit News for his investigation that explored how Mississippi has spent opioid settlement funds. 

The award recognizes newsrooms “that made a significant contribution to the well-being of its community through a journalism-centered project or service,” according to the institute. For months, Siegler dug into what happened after tens of millions of dollars were awarded to the state from drug companies that had perpetuated the nation’s overdose epidemic. 

“The approach requires a lot of work, but the methodology — following the money via public records requests — is fairly straightforward,” the institute said in a written statement. “Judges appreciated the unfussy databases and maps, and the equally unfussy vertical video summary. These strategies showed a willingness to consider all the ways audiences might interact with the material.”

ATLANTA — Georgia’s Republican legislative leaders on Wednesday rejected Gov. Brian Kemp’s call to redraw congressional and legislative districts during a special session, citing concerns about moving too quickly after a U.S. Supreme Court decision weakened federal Voting Rights Act protections for minority voters.

House Speaker Jon Burns sent Kemp a letter hours before a special session was set to begin Wednesday, and he announced the decision as demonstrators filled the Georgia Capitol with chants of “Black voters matter!”

The decision marked a setback for both Kemp and President Donald Trump, who has urged Republican-led states to redraw congressional districts to their advantage. Ten states already have enacted new congressional districts ahead of the November midterm elections. Georgia would have been the first to change congressional districts for the 2028 elections, and the first to redraw state legislative districts.

Burns said lawmakers want to take their time after the court’s decision in Louisiana v. Callais, which struck down Louisiana’s congressional map as an illegal racial gerrymander and laid the groundwork for other Southern states to redraw their congressional districts. Burns said it was more important for lawmakers to focus on economic matters rather than “partisan games.” He also cited pending litigation over existing Georgia districts and the need to understand the full ramifications for how race can or cannot be used in redistricting.

Privately, Republicans had expressed concerns that a rushed redistricting that diminished Black and other minority voters’ political power could cause a backlash. They also worried that redrawn districts could backfire by creating more competitive jurisdictions that Democrats could win, especially around the Atlanta area.

But Republican legislative leaders did not rule out revisiting redistricting later this year.

Civil rights activists opposed the special session

Minority voting rights are especially salient in Georgia, where the Capitol complex includes a statue of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and sits blocks from where the assassinated civil rights icon lived, preached and led the movement that yielded the Voting Rights Act in 1965.

The pressure surrounding the session was on display Wednesday as civil rights leaders, progressive activists and citizens gathered at the Capitol. They criticized the Supreme Court’s reasoning in Callais that it was discriminatory to draw districts to allow minority voters a chance to elect their preferred representatives.

U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, the first Black senator in Georgia’s history and the minister at the Atlanta church where King once preached, compared the possibility of eliminating some heavily minority districts to the long Jim Crow history of poll taxes and literacy tests. White conservatives in the South once called those policies “race neutral,” too, Warnock said, referencing a phrase Justice Samuel Alito used multiple times in his Callais majority opinion.

Speaking before Burns’ announcement, Warnock called the session opening “a dark day in Georgia history.” He lamented that some white Republicans who might consider redrawing district lines — or already have in other Southern states — also praise King on his federal holiday each year.

“If you want to redraw maps and you have the power to do it, I guess you can do it,” he said. “But keep Dr. King’s name out of your mouth.”

Conservative justices gave the green light

Before Callais, Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act was understood to require maps — for Congress, state legislatures and local legislative bodies — that gave historically marginalized minorities a reasonable chance to select candidates of their choice. Nationally and in Georgia, those so-called “opportunity districts” have disproportionately elected Black and other nonwhite representatives.

For example, about a third of Georgia’s 180 state representatives are Black. Latino, Asian and other minorities bring the total nonwhite share to about 40% — roughly reflecting the state’s overall population. Georgia’s U.S. House delegation has five districts out of 14 total where the electorate is majority or plurality nonwhite. All elected Black Democrats in 2024.

With the Callais ruling, issued in April, a conservative majority of justices concluded that jurisdictions drawn with racial makeup in mind are discriminatory and violate the U.S. Constitution’s equal protection clause. The justices declared that apportionment should be “race neutral.”

Their stated reasoning did not hinge on party interests, and federal courts have said partisan gerrymandering is constitutionally permissible. But in Southern states, party loyalty dovetails considerably with race and ethnicity. So the decision has allowed Republicans to redraw maps to boost GOP districts by redistributing nonwhite voters who tend to support Democrats.

Many civil rights activists argue that makes it impossible for Southern legislatures to be genuinely “race neutral” when drawing boundaries.

There were risks for Kemp and Republicans

It wasn’t guaranteed that Georgia Republicans could get what they want from new maps.

Around metro Atlanta, spreading nonwhite, Democratic-leaning voters across more districts could make more seats seem to lean Republican. The risk, however, is that more battleground districts emerge because white metropolitan voters are trending less conservative, which could give Democratic candidates of any race or ethnicity more chances to win.

That’s perhaps not a major factor in the Georgia state Senate, which already is considered gerrymandered for Republicans. But it could be a consideration when drawing state House and U.S. House maps.

Kemp was effectively asking Republicans, especially in metro Atlanta, to redraw their own boundaries and take on new, unfamiliar territory.

Trump started the fight before the Supreme Court decision

Nationally, a partisan redistricting battle started last year when Trump urged Republican-controlled states to redraw congressional boundaries to shore up the GOP’s narrow House majority in Washington this November. Texas answered the call first.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democrats in Sacramento answered with their own gerrymander that voters later approved. A succession of states followed. The outcome would have been close to even had the Virginia Supreme Court, controlled by conservatives, not struck down new Democratic-drawn maps approved by the state’s voters. All told, Republicans think they could gain as many as 16 seats from their redistricting efforts while Democrats think they could gain six seats from new districts in California and Utah.

That still may not be enough for the GOP to hold a congressional majority, given Trump’s lagging approval ratings. But it could mitigate Democratic gains and set Republicans up well for 2028 and beyond.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Mississippi has updated its guidelines for HIV prevention medication after a national advocacy group alleged the insurer’s coverage options violated federal law.

Cayla Mangrum, director of corporate communications for Blue Cross, told Mississippi Today the company expanded its formulary Thursday to include two HIV prevention drugs: Descovy, a daily oral pill, and Apretude, a long-acting injectable medication administered every two months. 

“We simply added Descovy and Apretude to avoid any perception they were not covered,” Mangrum said to Mississippi Today. She said the change is not a shift in coverage because providers could previously request coverage based on medical necessity through an exceptions process.

Healthcare providers told Mississippi Today they have struggled to prescribe these medications to patients with Blue Cross insurance compared to people covered by other insurers. They often have needed to submit letters or ask company leadership for special approval to obtain them. Blue Cross is the largest private insurer in the state, with a market share of 45%.

In a June 1 letter to State Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney, Washington-based HIV and Hepatitis Policy Institute claimed Blue Cross unlawfully restricted access to several forms of pre-exposure prophylaxis, a highly effective HIV prevention medication known as PrEP. Federal law requires most health insurers to provide beneficiaries access to oral and injectable forms of PrEP with no cost-sharing and without imposing barriers to steer patients to one medication option over another. 

“BCBSMS’ coverage of PrEP medications plainly violates these PrEP coverage requirements,” executive director Carl Schmid wrote. 

A Blue Cross webpage that previously stated Apretude, a form of PrEP most insurers are required to cover, was “not medically necessary” under the plan has since been removed. The page now directs to the health plan’s medical policy. 

“We are pleased that Blue Cross Blue Shield of Mississippi has taken steps to comply with federal preventive coverage requirements by adding these two PrEP drugs,” Schmid said in a statement Monday. “The people of Mississippi deserve the same benefits of innovative HIV prevention tools that other people across the country have access to.”

Despite federal requirements, gaps in PrEP coverage remain

Mississippi has one of the highest rates of new HIV diagnoses and the highest HIV death rate in the country, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. It has the lowest rate of people who take PrEP compared to rates of new diagnosis. Medical providers and advocates say this shows that Mississippi is not doing enough to counter the preventable virus. 

The virus disproportionately affects Black and Hispanic people in Mississippi. Black Mississippians are diagnosed with HIV at a rate five times that of white residents.

Chaney, the state official tasked with regulating insurers, told Mississippi Today in a June 8 phone call it is not his responsibility to regulate the prescription drugs a private health plan covers. 

“It’s up to them to do that, and that’s an option for them,” he said in a follow-up conversation Monday. “It’s the same thing I told Blue Cross. ‘I’m not forcing you to do anything, but you’ve got to do the right thing.’” 

Under the Affordable Care Act, a landmark healthcare reform law enacted in 2010, most private insurers are required to cover preventive healthcare services that receive an “A” or “B” recommendation by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force at no cost to patients. 

In 2019, the task force gave an “A” rating for prescribing PrEP to people at high risk of contracting HIV. At the time, the only Food and Drug Administration approved form of PrEP was Truvada, a daily oral pill. A generic version of the medication was introduced in 2020. 

In 2023, U.S. Preventive Services Task Force expanded its recommendation to include Descovy, which is preferred for people with pre-existing kidney conditions, and Apretude. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services clarified in 2024 that plans must cover all of these medications.

Self-insured plans, which are common among large employers, and plans existing before the Affordable Care Act went into effect, are exempt from the ACA requirements for preventive healthcare services. Under federal law, states exercise primary enforcement authority over health insurance insurers in the group and individual markets to ensure compliance with Affordable Care Act reforms. The federal government can step in and enforce requirements if states do not. 

Research shows gaps in PrEP coverage persist despite the federal preventive care regulations. A recent study by the AIDS Institute found that most health insurance plans available through the Affordable Care Act Marketplace do not clearly communicate that PrEP is covered without cost-sharing, and a quarter do not include PrEP on their preventive service lists.

Rashad Pollard is a PrEP coordinator for Open Arms Healthcare, a Jackson clinic that prescribes PrEP to roughly 250 patients in Mississippi. He said he has faced difficulty helping patients obtain coverage for some PrEP medications through Blue Cross.

He said because there was previously no prior authorization process for the medication, he has had patients whose providers were forced to write letters to Blue Cross asking the insurer to cover Descovy. Responses typically take at least two months, and as a result, patients may go without prevention coverage during that period, he said. 

Pollard said similar gaps exist in some other health plans, too, but he has noticed insurers increasingly expanding PrEP coverage options. 

“We are seeing medications being added to formularies,”  he said. “We know that there are some changes taking place.” 

June Gipson, CEO of My Brother’s Keeper, the Ridgeland-based health and advocacy nonprofit program that runs Open Arms, said the organization has found creative ways to overcome barriers that limit access to PrEP. These efforts include providing insurance coverage to PrEP patients and leveraging a federal program that lowers medication costs. 

Gipson said she believes it is short-sighted to limit access to a range of preventive medications for a serious disease, particularly given how effective they have proven to be. She added that certain types of medications may be more effective for different people based on existing health conditions or circumstances. 

“Why would you limit people in Mississippi to just one method?” she asked. 

Advocates denounce insurance commissioner’s comments on PrEP and HIV prevention

Chaney told Mississippi Today he does not believe health insurance companies should be forced to cover costly HIV prevention medications in order for people to “have a lifestyle they want to have.”

“What the HIV people are asking us to do, or what the insurance companies tell me, is to provide these — these drugs are very expensive, by the way, $28,000 a year — to people who want them, just because they want to continue doing something they shouldn’t be doing,” Chaney said. “You know, publicly, somebody doesn’t want to say that. I don’t mind saying it. You know, my goodness, accept some personal responsibility. Know what the risks are.”

Chaney did not specify the lifestyle or medication he was referring to, but Yeztugo, a twice-yearly injectable PrEP medication approved by the FDA in 2025, has a list price of about $14,000 per shot, according to Gilead, the drug’s manufacturer. 

Mississippi Medicaid covers generic Truvada, Descovy, Apretude and Yetzugo with no copay for patients, according to spokesperson Matt Westerfield. 

Federal regulations have not clarified that health plans must cover Yeztugo, although many insurers do. According to Gilead, 95% of people in the U.S. had insurance coverage for the medication as of its May 2026 shareholder report.

However, the HIV and Hepatitis Policy Institute argued in its June 1 letter to Chaney that federal preventive care coverage requirements should apply to all FDA-approved PrEP medications, including Yeztugo. 

Research has shown that long-acting injectable forms of PrEP are more effective at preventing transmission of HIV than daily oral pills because they improve adherence to the medication. 

Chaney made similar comments to the Magnolia Tribune, saying that he does not support people accessing medication at no cost “so they can do promiscuous things.” 

In a statement, Schmid said the commissioner’s comments are discriminatory. 

“It is due to attitudes like this that Mississippi has the third-highest HIV diagnosis rate in the country,” Schmid wrote. “The Supreme Court has affirmed preventive coverage requirements, and it is the insurance commissioner’s job to enforce the law, not to decide who deserves the protections to which they are entitled.”

Elizabeth Kaplan, director of healthcare access for the Harvard Law School’s Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation, said there is no scientific or ethical basis for Chaney’s statements. She added that they undermine HIV advocates’ decades-long work to destigmatize HIV.

“PrEP is appropriate for anyone who wants to take action to protect themselves from HIV,” she said, adding it is used as a prevention tool for a variety of people, including those in heterosexual relationships, committed relationships in which only one person has HIV, by women and people experiencing domestic violence.

Advocates say barriers to HIV treatment access persist 

The HIV and Hepatitis Policy Institute also raised concerns about Blue Cross of Mississippi’s coverage of long-acting injectable HIV treatment medication in its letter to Chaney, an issue advocates have raised in the past. 

Blue Cross Blue Shield considers Cabenuva, the only standalone long-acting injectable HIV treatment regimen, “not medically necessary,” according to online policy documents.

Lindsey Dawson, associate director for HIV Policy at KFF, said this policy could suggest that Blue Cross is an outlier in its coverage options for treatment of HIV. 

“I’m not aware personally of a plan unilaterally saying that a specific medication is not medically necessary, particularly when there’s other federal guidance that provides clear guidance around why and when those drugs are effective,” she said. 

Mangrum said Blue Cross’ prescription drug formulary includes approximately 20 treatment options for HIV.

“If clinical circumstances of a Member are not met with the treatment options on the formulary, an exception process is in place to work with the Network Provider to address the clinical needs of the Member,” she said in a written statement. 

Mississippi lawmakers have tried unsuccessfully to prohibit such language. In 2024, a bill by Rep. John Hines, a Democrat from Greenville, would have barred health insurers from denying access to HIV treatment and medications on the grounds they were “not medically necessary.” It died in the House.

Kaplan said long-acting injectables are critical to ensuring that patients have access to effective care.

“There’s a very strong case that for a lot of people living with HIV, access to long-acting injectables is medically necessary and people should have access to them,” she said. 

Fran Hutchins, executive director of the Equality Federation Institute, wrote to Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Mississippi in August 2025 to advocate for the insurer to cover Cabenuva or Biktarvy, a prescription medication used to treat HIV in adults and children. 

In an October letter obtained by Mississippi Today, Blue Cross Chief Medical Officer Dr. Lee Greer responded that the plan covers other safe and cost-effective treatment options.

“HIV treatment currently available through Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi meets the treatment needs of its Members,” Greer wrote. 

Hutchins told Mississippi Today that HIV treatment plays a key role in prevention because the medications can lower a patient’s viral load to undetectable levels, effectively preventing transmission of the virus.

Pollard, the PrEP coordinator, said he takes PrEP himself. He said he takes Descovy due to existing health conditions and medication interactions.

When he started in his current role in 2025, which provides Blue Cross health insurance, he found that his prescription for Descovy was not covered. 

“I had to be a PrEP coordinator for myself,” he said. 

To afford the medication, he relied on a pharmaceutical company’s drug assistance program that provided free medication for up to a year, but he has grown worried about his coverage options as his renewal approaches. He does not expect to qualify again because of his insurance coverage. 

Pollard reviewed Blue Cross’ formulary Tuesday and discovered Descovy is now included on the plan’s drug formulary. 

“As soon as we get off the phone, I’m going to talk to my provider,” he said.  

The show welcomes back guest Randy Watkins to discuss this week’s US Open at the notoriously tough Shinnecock Hills Golf Club. Plus, Ole Miss bows out of the CWS as the World Cup heats up.

Stream all episodes here.

ROSEDALE — The West Bolivar School District stopped busing and feeding summer school students this month. The problem wasn’t that the school ran out of food or money. It’s that the school board hadn’t met in about two months to approve purchases and contract workers.

Fewer than three board members, too few for a quorum, showed up to at least four meetings in April, May and June. State law requires a quorum to approve spending and hiring.

Meanwhile, the district stopped paying its bills. Bus drivers and food service workers lost their summer jobs. 

“We’re supposed to be the ones that make the decisions for the children, and we can’t come together,” school board President Jackie Lloyd told Mississippi Today. She was one of two board members who showed up regularly to meetings over the last two months.

For nearly two weeks, the Delta district lacked a top executive. District Superintendent L’Kenna Whitehead, whose contract was not renewed by the board for the next school year, is on vacation through the end of June. 

The board has yet to name a superintendent for the new school year, which begins Aug. 24.

The school board on Thursday was able to appoint a designee to purchase food and supplies on behalf of the district. 

At its Thursday meeting, enough board members were present to approve bill payments, renew contracts for student support services, approve monthly financial reports as well as funding to continue an early college program, among other important board business.

West Bolivar’s school board governance woes come at a time when state lawmakers are debating measures to increase qualifications for school board members and allow members to be removed for misconduct and poor meeting attendance. District consolidation is also on the table as a way to reduce bureaucracy and tackle dysfunctional school leadership.

The Mississippi Department of Education is investigating West Bolivar schools, according to a response to a records request filed by Mississippi Today in March. State education department officials Jo Ann Malone, associate state superintendent, and John Ferrell, chief of school and district transformation, observed the Thursday meeting by teleconference. Department spokesperson Shanderia Minor told Mississippi Today she could not provide additional comment in light of the active investigation.

Over half of residents in Rosedale, one of several rural communities in Bolivar County served by the district, live below the poverty line. Over a third of residents in Shaw, which is roughly 28 miles southwest from Rosedale, live below the poverty line.

The district received “D” and “F” ratings on the state accountability system for the past five school years.

Turnover in critical administrative positions and a vacancy on the school board could continue to stymie operations.

The district’s business manager and payroll clerk have given notice of their plans to resign at the end of June, Lloyd told Mississippi Today. That raises concerns there won’t be anyone in place to cut paychecks for employees or to close out the year’s accounts. Lloyd said she also worries that the district could miss the budget submission deadline to the county board of supervisors by Aug. 15. 

In addition, no one qualified to run for the open school board seat in November. 

The school board also missed its deadline to choose an interim board member, so the position will remain vacant until at least November, when a candidate would need to run for the position. 

About 10% of Rosedale residents and 16% of Shaw residents have at least a bachelor’s degree, which is a requirement for most administrative roles in a school district.

Open leadership positions have the district in a “chokehold,” Lloyd said. The district also needs a curriculum director and a high school principal. Lloyd said she hopes the district can find a superintendent, but she fears many superintendent candidates are already contracted with a district. 

Meanwhile, some district staff are working without the promise of a paycheck. At the meeting Thursday, Lloyd thanked Cook, the maintenance director, for driving a busload of students to summer school in a school bus although he did not get paid for it. 

District parents, guardians, staff and community members have been preparing food for students. Lloyd thanked them Thursday for stepping up to help.

“Some of those individuals that work in the district paid out of their pocket to order food to make sure those children were fed,” she told Mississippi Today.

Law enforcement officers used tear gas to disperse a crowd Tuesday in the north Mississippi city of Senatobia as people protested the police shooting Sunday that killed a 1-year-old boy and wounded an adult, ABC24 reported. National civil rights attorney Ben Crump is part of the legal team representing the child’s family. 

“A 1-year-old child is dead because police officers in Mississippi opened fire on a car in a crowded Walmart parking lot,” Crump said in a Tuesday statement. “ … We intend to seek justice for baby Kohen and the life that was stolen from him.”

The toddler, Kohen Wiley, was in the car with his mother and a family friend in the parking lot of a Walmart in Senatobia. Police and Tate County sheriff’s deputies were responding to an alleged shoplifting, and they tried to stop the car. State officials said the driver drove in the officers’ direction and nearly hit one, leading an officer to fire at the car.

Before the shooting, Kohen’s mother said she tried to tell officers that a child was in the car, according to Crump’s statement. Family members told local media that the woman and family friend did not shoplift and were buying diapers. 

Kohen later died from his injuries at a local hospital, and the family friend was critically wounded.

Local media also reported crowds gathered outside Senatobia City Hall as officials met. Hundreds of people gathered at the Walmart on Tuesday, and police deployed tear gas in the parking lot of the store.

Crump is representing the family with Memphis civil rights attorney Van Turner. 

On Monday, Tate County Sheriff Luke Shepherd declined to comment about the shooting. 

WAPT reported on Tuesday the officer involved in the shooting was put on administrative leave.

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, which investigates all law enforcement shootings, will present findings to the attorney general’s office. From there, the attorney general’s office will review the officer’s use of force and present evidence to a local grand jury about potential criminal charges. 

Crump has represented other Missisisppi residents, including the family of Demartravion “Trey” Reed, the 21-year-old Black man found hanging on Delta State University’s campus in September last year. Officials ruled his death a suicide, but questions from family, community members and beyond remained about whether there was any foul play. 

Crump and attorney Vanessa Jones said in October they planned to launch an independent investigation. They have yet to reveal the results of the second autopsy, which was performed by Dr. Matthias I. Okoye.

Crump has also represented Mississippi residents in law enforcement-related deaths, such as the family of Dexter Wade, who was hit by a cruiser driven by an off-duty Jackson police officer on Interstate 55 and whose body was buried in the Hinds County pauper grave for months before family learned he was there.

Update, 6/16/2026: This story was updated to include media reports that law enforcement deployed tear gas on a crowd protesting at Walmart in Senatobia Tuesday evening.

Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson has informed legislative leaders that his office is taking steps to prepare for redistricting in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision opening the door for states to eliminate majority-Black electoral districts.

Watson, a Republican who is running for lieutenant governor, referenced the June 9 letter in a news release on Tuesday. 

“Recently, in light of the ruling by the United States Supreme Court in Louisiana v. Callais et al., its direct impact on the existing legislative district maps, and my statutory duty as Mississippi’s Chief Elections Officer, I notified Speaker Jason White and Lt. Governor Delbert Hosemann of our team’s intent at the Secretary of State’s Office to begin preparing the Statewide Elections Management System (SEMS) for a reversion to the original 2022 legislative redistricting map adopted by the Mississippi Legislature,” Watson said. 

The ruling in the Louisiana v. Callais case places Mississippi and other Southern states at the center of a national partisan and racial political battle over redistricting. Some Republicans already running or expected to run for statewide office in 2027 have taken steps to wade into the redistricting debate. 

Watson said he had to send a letter to inform lawmakers what timeline they face if they intend to redraw districts before the 2027 legislative elections. This is because no redistricting changes may be made to the statewide election system while an election is in progress, Watson said. 

The Statewide Elections Management System is the statewide system that county election officials use to administer elections at the local level. Legislative districts can include portions of groups of counties, and this system determines the legislative district for each voter.. 

The timeline Watson pointed out said that for the 2027 statewide legislative elections, changes to the election management system would be prohibited from early June 2027 through mid-Dec. 2027. 

Watson also said that for the 2026 midterm federal elections coming up in November, changes to the system will be prohibited from 60 days before election day. Mississippi has already conducted primaries for the fast-approaching midterms, and lawmakers would have to take the improbable step of invalidating those results and conducting new elections, a plan most legislative leaders haven’t expressed an appetite for carrying out. 

White and Hosemann, who lead the majority-white, Republican-dominated Legislature, have already formed special committees in both chambers to consider redistricting. They could redraw several different electoral maps, including the congressional maps, state legislative maps and state supreme court maps. 

In addition to Watson, other potential Republican candidates for statewide office in 2027 have opined on redistricting, showing the issue could be salient among GOP primary voters. Since the Callais ruling came down, state Auditor Shad White, considered a likely Republican candidate for governor in 2027, has been beating the drum for the Legislature to return and redraw congressional maps in a way that could oust U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, the state’s lone Democrat and lone Black member of Congress, from his seat in this year’s midterms.  

On the legislative maps level White and Hosemann have not declared outright that they intend to revert to the maps they initially drew in 2022 to account for population shifts across the state. A redrawing of those maps could erase some small gains Democrats made in the Legislature in recent years.

White and Hosemann did not immediately respond on Tuesday to requests for comment about Watson’s letter. 

Lawmakers, using data from the 2020 U.S. Census, passed a new legislative map in 2022, as states normally do when they redraw state legislative and congressional districts. But a group of Black voters successfully sued the state, arguing that the state didn’t draw enough majority-Black legislative districts during this process. 

A federal three-judge panel agreed and ordered the state to create additional majority-Black legislative districts, which the Legislature did in 2025. But the U.S. Supreme Court later reversed that lower-court ruling.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s order reversing that lower-court decision didn’t negate the 2025 laws the Legislature passed to redraw the districts, so it’s unclear if Watson’s decision to prepare for a reversion to the old districts conflicts with the 2025 maps. 

Gov. Tate Reeves and White, though, have said they believe lawmakers will redraw legislative districts in a special session this year, before lawmakers convene in January for the 2027 regular session. 

In a statement, state Rep. Cheikh Taylor, the Mississippi Democratic Party chairman, said Watson’s move shows Republicans are trying to revert to a political era before Black residents had fair representation.  

“Let’s be clear about what Michael Watson is doing,” said Chairman Taylor. “He is laying the administrative groundwork to hand Republicans a political windfall before a single public hearing has been held, before a single map has been drawn, and before Mississippi voters have had any say.”

Republican state officials have said redistricting based on race is wrong, but support redistricting based on partisan interests.  

Jackson Mayor John Horhn is hoping to stave off a strike of city bus workers that could leave low-income and disabled Jacksonians stranded in the summer heat amid stalled contract negotiations with the third-party company that manages JTRAN.

In an emailed statement Monday night, Horhn did not say what steps he would take to achieve that goal and was unavailable for an interview with Mississippi Today. Both sides of the dispute have asked the mayor to intervene. 

The impending strike by the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1208, composed of bus drivers and other JTRAN employees, could occur any time in the next 30 days if the Texas-based management company, MV Transportation, continues to push for cost-cutting measures, such as hiring drivers without commercial licenses. 

The public service represents a lifeline for Jackson residents who depend on the buses to get to work, health appointments or the grocery store. While the precise number of Jacksonians who ride the bus is not known, JTRAN gives tens of thousands of rides each month, according to the city. 

“My priority is to avoid any disruption in service while ensuring that our drivers are treated fairly and that residents who depend on public transit can continue to get to work, school, medical appointments, and other destinations,” Horhn said in the statement. 

The disagreement between the union and MV Transportation has also been exacerbated by a company proposal to save money that Horhn’s administration brought to the Jackson City Council two weeks ago. 

Pieter Teeuwissen, the city’s chief administrative officer, pulled the measure before the council could discuss it. But the union felt the proposal undermined its negotiations with MV Transportation. 

“We are carefully evaluating both perspectives to determine what makes the most sense for our riders, our workers, and our taxpayers,” Horhn said Monday.

In an open letter to the city, MV Transportation, which calls itself the largest privately-owned transportation company in America, said it had drafted the proposal “in response to Mayor Horhn’s citywide call to address Jackson’s significant fiscal challenges.” 

Jackson is facing a sizable budget deficit. The company also said it is losing money on its current contract with the city.

“A service redesign, or some alternative outside funding which no one has been able to identify, is necessary to provide our employees with the substantial raises needed to make their wages competitive,” the company wrote. 

All told, the plan would save the city about $1.8 million out of a roughly $9 million contract, said Gary Coles, MV Transportation’s chief customer success officer. It would also save the company money. 

The plan would cut two fixed-service routes, shorten the work day, eliminate Saturday services and allow MV Transportation to hire drivers without commercial licenses for on-demand, “microtransit” services.

Coles said the company wants to meet with Jacksonians to discuss the details of its proposed overhaul and is looking to hire interns to talk to bus riders. He also said the company is hoping city officials will step in. 

“As far as Mayor Horhn or President (Brian) Grizzell in the council, Jackson needs that leadership right now,” he said.

At a press conference on Monday, Charles Tornes, a bus driver and the union president, said he met with Horhn months ago to discuss MV Transportation’s cost-cutting proposals. During the meeting, Tornes said the mayor said he didn’t have enough details to form a position. 

But the union has not met with the mayor since, Tornes said.

The two sides have been negotiating what’s known as a collective bargaining agreement since a previous version expired in December 2025. The union voted to authorize the strike Friday after voting down MV Transportation’s most recent proposal.

Though JTRAN is publicly funded, the negotiations have so far been conducted in private. The union represents employees of MV Transportation, which holds the city’s contract to operate and manage the transit system. 

Tornes said the union is mainly seeking competitive pay raises. The union also wants to maintain benefits it had won through previous contract negotiations but believes MV Transportation as attempting to curtail, such as bus drivers’ ability to select their routes. 

“As a whole, we just feel it is an attack on our contract,” Tornes said of MV Transportation’s proposals.

For its part, Coles said MV Transportation wants to change how JTRAN assigns bus routes to drivers. If a driver cannot work on a particular day, Coles said the company wants to be able to call in employees on their days off. 

“I wish I could give you a very clear explanation, and unfortunately I cannot because it confuses me,” Coles said when asked how driver assignments currently work.

The company is also seeking the ability to switch drivers between the fixed routes and its paratransit service for people with disabilities and other medical needs.   

MV Transportation is also offering $500 bonuses to union members if the city implements its proposed redesign. MV Transportation has argued it cannot fund higher pay raises without the city agreeing to its money-saving measures.

In early June, the Horhn administration brought MV Transportation’s proposed overhaul before the council. 

But after hearing from disability rights activist Scott Crawford and other concerned JTRAN riders, the administration removed the agenda item and referred it to a committee for further discussion. 

The sides have sparred before. Months after MV Transportation won the JTRAN contract in January 2024, the union went on a two-week strike due to concerns over long hours, wrongful terminations and unsafe working conditions. 

Then-mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba tried to act as a mediator between MV Transportation and the union. When that failed, he called on “both sides to return to the table and uphold their responsibilities to the residents who depend on them.” 

A survivor enters a domestic violence shelter. A trained staff member listens and realizes there are similar, sometimes hidden, signs of sexual assault and possibly trafficking.  

Leaders of state coalitions that support victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking say different kinds of abuse can be intertwined, and those providing support and advocacy to victims need to take a multifaceted approach to helping them. 

“In the work, the most important thing we always know is we cannot work in isolation,” said Vera Johnson, program specialist-system change for the Mississippi Coalition Against Domestic Violence. 

Johnson helped organize and emcee a conference last week that drew over 80 people from across the state. The coalition hosted the event, “Crossroads of Care: The Intersectionality of Survivor Support,” attended by staff from shelters, church-based support programs, college campuses, the legal system and law enforcement. 

Domestic violence, sexual violence and human trafficking are rooted in power and control, and that can be seen through intimidation and threats, isolation, physical abuse, emotional abuse and economic abuse, according to those leading the panels. 

Amber Eide, a human trafficking survivor, shared her story and talked about how she found providers who offered her grace and helped her feel safe. 

“We stay because the barriers feel overwhelming,” said Eide, who talked about how it took several attempts before she could leave the abuse.  

Lori Hill, human trafficking coordinator for the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, said many trafficking victims were also victims of child abuse, including sexual abuse. She shared information about the state’s human trafficking laws for adults and children and ways to spot signs of trafficking. 

Speakers also emphasized the dangers of domestic violence, noting it can escalate and turn deadly. Allison Bowie, director of the Crime Victim Compensation Program, said there has been an uptick in domestic violence homicides. 

Last year, at least 70 people died in domestic violence incidents, according to records maintained by Missisisppi Today by reviewing local news stories, police and court records and other public information. So far this year, at least 30 people have died. These numbers include victims, abusers, children, law enforcement and others. 

Between 2020 and 2024, over 300 people died in domestic violence incidents. 

To encourage better collaboration, identify earlier chances to intervene and collect better data, the domestic violence coalition supported a bill to create a statewide domestic violence fatality review team, whose work began this year. 

Attendees were asked to reflect on what they learned and implement it in their own work.

Johnson said people made suggestions of topics they would like to see covered at future conferences, including providing services to people experiencing addiction, low-cost legal representation and transportation in rural areas to access services. 

This was the domestic violence coalition’s first statewide conference and there are plans to host more in the future, including combined conferences with the Mississippi Coalition Against Sexual Assault and the Mississippi Coalition Against Human Trafficking.