By Nia Whitaker and Staff Writers for The People’s Paper MS
UPDATE (Wednesday, July 29, 2026): Senatobia Mayor Greg Graves and Police Chief Harold Vanderford failed to respond to detailed inquiries regarding Sgt. Hunter Foster’s background screenings, prior racial slur complaints, and past federal civil rights litigation by the city’s designated noon press deadline. [1, 2]
Local leadership’s refusal to comment leaves critical public safety questions unanswered as community outrage intensifies and civil rights attorneys for the Wiley family move forward with formal legal actions against the city.
The questions we asked at the end of story.
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Editor’s note: This story examines public records and employment histories. It does not suggest any connection between the officer’s past controversies and the ongoing criminal investigation into the June 14 shooting.
SENATOBIA, Miss. — The fatal police shooting of 1-year-old Kohen Kartier Wiley outside a local Walmart has ignited deep community outrage and refocused scrutiny on how Mississippi tracks and promotes lateral law enforcement officers. Public records have identified Senatobia Police Sergeant Hunter Foster as a primary subject of the investigation into the deadly encounter. That’s a revelation that has unsealed a past history of federal civil rights litigation and a hidden internal complaint regarding a highly offensive racial slur.
The June 14 shooting occurred after Senatobia officers responded to a shoplifting call involving diapers.
According to preliminary statements by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation (MBI), an officer discharged a firearm into a sedan after the driver allegedly accelerated toward police. The gunfire struck the vehicle’s driver, 22-year-old Latoya Ferrell, and killed 1-year-old Kohen Wiley.
The Wiley family, represented by civil rights attorney Ben Crump, vehemently disputes the state’s narrative, citing independent forensic reports indicating that the fatal bullet entered the child from the side, away from any oncoming path.
As community members confront local elected officials demanding Foster’s termination and arrest, an independent evaluation of court dockets and newly unsealed internal complaints reveal an operational history of documented racial hostility and falsified threats.
“The Room Went Silent”: The Booking Room Accusation
Just two days prior to the deadly Walmart shooting, Sergeant Foster was the subject of an internal department complaint stemming from an incident inside the Senatobia Police Department booking room.
According to official records reviewed by The People’s Paper MS, late in the afternoon on June 12, Foster entered the booking area where Officer Dexter Smith, who is Black, was completing paperwork. In front of multiple witnesses, Foster allegedly asked out loud, “Who is this Black motherfucker back there?”
The room reportedly went completely silent. Following a lack of any meaningful corrective action or resolution from local department leadership, Officer Smith officially resigned from the force, noting that the hostile, racially offensive environment directly influenced his decision to leave the badge behind.
The Southaven Falsification and the “Wandering Cop” Path
Before securing his employment in Senatobia, Foster operated as a patrolman for the Southaven Police Department, where his tenure resulted in a major federal civil rights lawsuit following a volatile parking lot encounter.
Federal court records show that Foster was accused of fabricating official police reports by claiming a driver accelerated a vehicle and “almost ran over” a fellow officer. That’s the identical defense currently being evaluated in the Senatobia tragedy. However, surveillance footage preserved in the federal court docket completely contradicted Foster’s statement, showing no evidence that the vehicle drove toward or endangered any personnel. The civil rights lawsuit against Foster was settled out of court for an undisclosed sum.
Despite the settled federal fraud litigation, Foster’s state license remained active. He was hired laterally by the Senatobia Police Department on March 4, 2025, and was promoted to Sergeant on September 16, 2025, positioning him as a supervisor during the June Walmart call.
House Judiciary Committee Outlines “Balanced” Reform Path
The ease with which an officer can settle a federal misconduct lawsuit, face internal racism complaints, and still maintain a supervisor’s badge highlights a massive informational gap within the Mississippi Board on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Training (BLEOST).
State Representative Daryl Porter Jr. (D-District 98), a practicing attorney who serves on the influential House Judiciary B Committee – the legislative group that directly oversees law enforcement regulations – told The People’s Paper MS that the state must seriously reevaluate its framework to stop problem transfers while protecting basic due process rights.
“I believe Mississippi should seriously examine whether our current reporting and certification system provides hiring agencies with sufficient information to make informed employment decisions,” Rep. Porter stated. “If there are gaps that allow officers with sustained findings of serious misconduct to move between jurisdictions without appropriate disclosure, then the Legislature has a responsibility to address those gaps.”
Porter outlined a specific path for a statutory amendment that would introduce mandatory, automatic state-level reviews the moment an officer faces serious municipal disciplinary actions.
“Such a system would help prevent situations where an officer terminated for serious misconduct in one jurisdiction is quickly hired by another before the state has evaluated whether the officer should remain certified,” Porter explained. “Ideally, a balanced statutory amendment would mandate automatic review, rather than automatic punishment. In my opinion, this approach strengthens accountability while protecting due process and maintaining BLEOST’s role as the independent state licensing authority.”
To fix the tracking issues that leave rural hiring boards in the dark, Porter expressed openness to creating a tightly regulated, centralized state index.
“I am open to considering legislation that creates a centralized statewide reporting system for substantiated misconduct, provided it includes strong due process protections, clear standards for what is reported, and safeguards against including unsubstantiated allegations,” Porter added.
Unanswered Demands for Local Transparency
Sergeant Foster remains on paid administrative leave while MBI handles its independent inquiry. The Senatobia Police Department has yet to answer specific written inquiries regarding its background screening protocols, the booking room complaint, or its knowledge of the prior Southaven litigation files.
While state oversight systems remain a central point of debate among reform advocates, local legal actions are accelerating. Attorneys representing the Wiley family have launched formal civil actions against the city, maintaining that a systemic lack of background vetting directly contributed to the fatal encounter.
Sources: Internal Senatobia Police Department disciplinary complaints (June 12, 2026); Federal civil rights dockets (Northern District of Mississippi); official Senatobia Board of Aldermen personnel minutes (September 2025); Mississippi Bureau of Investigation (MBI) incident logs; and on-the-record policy disclosures, insight into the wandering cop law by Representative Daryl Porter Jr. (Esq.) to The People’s Paper MS.
Questions to Mayor:
- Background Screening Awareness: Was the Senatobia Police Department aware of Sgt. Foster’s prior federal civil rights litigation history in Southaven when he was hired laterally on March 4, 2025?
- Internal Booking Room Incident: What is the administrative status of the internal complaint filed on June 12, 2026, concerning an alleged racial slur directed at a colleague inside the booking facility?
- Promotion Evaluation: Did the department audit Sgt. Foster’s prior lateral personnel files before approving his promotion to the rank of Sergeant on September 16, 2025?
Questions to Chief:
- Background Screening Awareness: Was the Senatobia Police Department aware of Sgt. Foster’s prior federal civil rights litigation history in Southaven when he was hired laterally on March 4, 2025?
- Internal Booking Room Incident: What is the administrative status of the internal complaint filed on June 12, 2026, concerning an alleged racial slur directed at a colleague inside the booking facility?
- Promotion Evaluation: Did the department audit Sgt. Foster’s prior lateral personnel files before approving his promotion to the rank of Sergeant on September 16, 2025?
