Kohen’s mother, Vellesiya Wiley, said her son and her friend, who was driving, were hit by gunfire. In a video posted to social media Wednesday by civil rights attorney Ben Crump, Wiley said her friend was not driving toward the officers because they were “all on the right side and she was driving on the left.”
She also disputes the shoplifting claim, saying in the video that she believes her friend paid for the diapers she was wearing.
Police expert Ian Adams, who teaches criminal justice at the University of South Carolina, said that regardless of the circumstances, the officer should not have fired at the car.
“Modern police know that shooting into a moving vehicle is a very bad idea and one that should be avoided at almost all costs,” Adams said. For one thing, “the vehicles have other passengers, which is clearly a concern here in the present case.”
The shooting reignites concerns about racial justice
Kohen was black, as were his mother and her friend, and the circumstances leading to Kohen’s death quickly drew comparisons to another black mother shot while responding to a shoplifting charge.
In 2023, Ta’Kiya Young, who was pregnant, was shot by police in a suburb of Columbus, Ohio, after they tried to arrest her. Police said Young, who was also the mother of two young boys, got into her car and sped toward the officer who fired at her through the windshield. Both Young and her unborn daughter were killed.
The officer in that case was cleared of criminal charges and found justified in the use of force by a review board.
