2 days ago
The police chief of a northern Mississippi city where 1-year-old Black child Kohen Wiley was shot and killed by police responding to a shoplifting call was fired Tuesday amid a new controversy.
Senatobia Police Chief Harold Vanderford submitted his resignation the same day, but the city's board of aldermen declined to acknowledge it and instead voted unanimously to fire the chief, according to the city clerk, who did not elaborate on their reasons.
The firing followed reporting by The New York Times, Mississippi Today and Verite News last month that alleged Vanderford used racist slurs in private text conversations with a colleague. It also comes amid the aftermath of the child's shooting and other incidents.
The toddler Wiley was fatally shot and another woman was wounded June 14 after a Senatobia police officer fired into a vehicle while investigating a shoplifting call at a Walmart. The boy's mother, Vellesiya Wiley, denied that she or a friend accompanying her had stolen anything, and no charges have been filed against them.
The officer who shot Wiley and the woman driving the car the child was in has been placed on administrative leave while the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation looks into the shooting.
#shot #city #child #shoplifting
Senatobia Police Chief Harold Vanderford submitted his resignation the same day, but the city's board of aldermen declined to acknowledge it and instead voted unanimously to fire the chief, according to the city clerk, who did not elaborate on their reasons.
The firing followed reporting by The New York Times, Mississippi Today and Verite News last month that alleged Vanderford used racist slurs in private text conversations with a colleague. It also comes amid the aftermath of the child's shooting and other incidents.
The toddler Wiley was fatally shot and another woman was wounded June 14 after a Senatobia police officer fired into a vehicle while investigating a shoplifting call at a Walmart. The boy's mother, Vellesiya Wiley, denied that she or a friend accompanying her had stolen anything, and no charges have been filed against them.
The officer who shot Wiley and the woman driving the car the child was in has been placed on administrative leave while the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation looks into the shooting.
#shot #city #child #shoplifting
29 days ago
AUSTIN, Texas — Access to the Catapult GPS data tracked by the Texas Longhorns coaching staff isn't made accessible to the media or the public, so insight into the fastest players on the team has to come from sourced reporting, high school track times, companies like Reel ****** ytics that use AI to measure game film, and the players themselves.
On Thursday, following the second practice of preseason camp at Frank Denius Fields, redshirt junior running back/wide receiver Ryan Niblett, the team's dynamic return man, was asked about the three fastest players on the team. His response was surprising, and not just because he excluded himself, citing his humility.
"Kohen, of course," Niblett said. "Kohen's definitely fast."
That's freshman wide receiver Kohen Brown, a surprising pick thanks to his youth and relatively modest recruiting rankings — the Waxahachie product was the No. 266 player nationally and the No. 42 wide receiver in the 247Sports Composite rankings in the 2026 cycle.
With 41 offers, Brown was a coveted prospect when he committed to Texas last summer less than a month after receiving his offer from the Longhorns. And his 100-meter times from his junior season of high school are impressive with a 10.69 effort, but not the best on the team.
#texas #team #wide #kohen
On Thursday, following the second practice of preseason camp at Frank Denius Fields, redshirt junior running back/wide receiver Ryan Niblett, the team's dynamic return man, was asked about the three fastest players on the team. His response was surprising, and not just because he excluded himself, citing his humility.
"Kohen, of course," Niblett said. "Kohen's definitely fast."
That's freshman wide receiver Kohen Brown, a surprising pick thanks to his youth and relatively modest recruiting rankings — the Waxahachie product was the No. 266 player nationally and the No. 42 wide receiver in the 247Sports Composite rankings in the 2026 cycle.
With 41 offers, Brown was a coveted prospect when he committed to Texas last summer less than a month after receiving his offer from the Longhorns. And his 100-meter times from his junior season of high school are impressive with a 10.69 effort, but not the best on the team.
#texas #team #wide #kohen
2 months ago
(NewsNation) — A sheriff from Louisiana is resigning from his position of nearly 10 years after pleading guilty to charges related to an attack at a local restaurant.
Former St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Randy Smith pled guilty to felony second-degree battery and misdemeanor disturbing the peace by public intoxication during a recent court appearance.
Court documents obtained by NewsNation local affiliate WGNO show that on May 29, Smith approached Bobby Couvillion, a podcaster who was a frequent critic of Smith, and grabbed him and pulled him to the ground, where he repeatedly hit him.
Couvillion was hospitalized with a concussion after the attack and also had dental injuries.
'We want the truth': Ben Crump announces independent autopsy in Kohen Wiley's death
Former St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Randy Smith pled guilty to felony second-degree battery and misdemeanor disturbing the peace by public intoxication during a recent court appearance.
Court documents obtained by NewsNation local affiliate WGNO show that on May 29, Smith approached Bobby Couvillion, a podcaster who was a frequent critic of Smith, and grabbed him and pulled him to the ground, where he repeatedly hit him.
Couvillion was hospitalized with a concussion after the attack and also had dental injuries.
'We want the truth': Ben Crump announces independent autopsy in Kohen Wiley's death
3 months ago
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The fatal shooting of a 1-year-old boy by police who were responding to a shoplifting call this week has ignited simmering tensions between police and Black residents in the small town of Senatobia, Mississippi.
The death of Kohen Wiley is the latest in a series of troubling encounters with police that have outraged community members in recent years. It has led to protests and calls for greater police accountability in the town of 8,000, with some civil rights activists pointing to Kohen's death as another example of a Black life lost over something of nominal value — in this case, allegedly stolen diapers.
"We are treating items on a shelf as more valuable than a child," Bernice King, the daughter of civil right icon Martin Luther King, Jr., said in a statement posted to Instagram on Wednesday. "That is not just bad policing; it is a moral collapse."
There are still many unanswered questions about the shooting and what led up to it.
Senatobia police responded to the shoplifting call at a local Walmart on Sunday, where they found two women and a child leaving the store, getting into a car and driving away. According to a statement released by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation: "Officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver drove in the direction of the officers, almost striking one. An officer then discharged their weapon and the vehicle fled the scene."
The death of Kohen Wiley is the latest in a series of troubling encounters with police that have outraged community members in recent years. It has led to protests and calls for greater police accountability in the town of 8,000, with some civil rights activists pointing to Kohen's death as another example of a Black life lost over something of nominal value — in this case, allegedly stolen diapers.
"We are treating items on a shelf as more valuable than a child," Bernice King, the daughter of civil right icon Martin Luther King, Jr., said in a statement posted to Instagram on Wednesday. "That is not just bad policing; it is a moral collapse."
There are still many unanswered questions about the shooting and what led up to it.
Senatobia police responded to the shoplifting call at a local Walmart on Sunday, where they found two women and a child leaving the store, getting into a car and driving away. According to a statement released by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation: "Officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver drove in the direction of the officers, almost striking one. An officer then discharged their weapon and the vehicle fled the scene."
