AG says Mississippi police were justified in shooting that killed 1-year-old

The Mississippi Attorney General's Office said in a statement on Monday that the Senatobia Police Department was justified in its use of force during a police-involved shooting last June that led to the death of a 1-year-old.

Kohen Wiley was shot and killed outside of a Walmart in Senatobia, Mississippi, on June 14 after an officer fired into a vehicle when those in the vehicle were allegedly evading police.

The attorney general's office said in its statement on Monday, "In this incident, the Attorney General's Office found the use of force was justified."

In a statement released in September by Senatobia Interim Chief of Police Angelica Maze, the Mississippi Bureau of Investigations handed its investigative findings into Wiley's death to the Mississippi Attorney General's office, as required by law.

The shooting occurred after law enforcement officers responded to a shoplifting call in Senatobia, according to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation.

Officers who responded to a shoplifting call encountered two adults allegedly fleeing from the store with a child and going into a vehicle, according to the bureau.

Attorneys for the Wiley family said that the adults were accused of stealing diapers.

Officers attempted to stop the vehicle, with one opening fire when the driver allegedly drove toward them, the bureau said. The child was killed and an adult critically injured, officials said.

The mother, child and a family friend were in the vehicle at the time, according to the family's attorneys.

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Surveillance footage of the incident has not been released.

“A 1-year-old baby was shot and killed by a police officer, and now the state of Mississippi says that use of force was justified,” Ben Crump, Wiley’s family attorney, said in a statement obtained by ABC News on Monday.

"How can anyone accept that conclusion when Kohen’s family and the public still have not been allowed to see the body-camera footage?" Crump added.

The Senatobia police department did not immediately reply to ABC News' request for comment.