Mississippi police officer who shot and killed 1-year-old Kohen Wiley resigns after being cleared by state

A Mississippi police officer who shot into a moving car and killed a 1-year-old boy outside a Walmart in June has resigned, the mayor of Senatobia confirmed to CBS News on Friday.

Mayor Greg Graves confirmed that Hunter Foster resigned.

Foster's resignation comes after the Mississippi attorney general's office announced Monday that the use of force was justified in the June shooting that stemmed from a response to an alleged shoplifting incident.

Officers and Tate County sheriff's deputies responding to the incident were already at the Walmart for an unrelated call. They approached a car backing out of a parking spot in the lot and yelled for it to stop. When the car moved forward, Foster opened fire on the car.

Body camera footage from the incident shows the car backing up and hitting a parked car as the law enforcement officers converged on the vehicle with their guns drawn.

When the car moves forward, Foster is seen moving out of the way as he puts one hand down on the hood as gunshots from his weapon ring out. The front passenger window of the car then shatters, and the car drives away.

One-year-old Kohen Wiley was in the car and died in the shooting.

In a social media video following the June 14 shooting, Kohen's mother, Vellesiya Wiley, said she was at the Walmart with a friend. When the three left the store, Wiley said her friend was stopped at the exit after buying diapers using the store's self-checkout kiosk. Wiley continued walking outside.

Security camera footage shows the friend speaking with the man who stopped her. When she went outside, the two women started running to the car, and the man went to get the officers.

Wiley said she was sitting in the passenger seat of the car and her friend was driving. As the officers ran toward the car, Wiley said she held up Kohen to show them there was a child inside the vehicle.

"So she was backing up, and she hit a car as I was opening the door, so the door flew back in. By the time I sat my baby down, it was like three to four shots," Wiley said.

One of the shots hit Kohen in his ribcage, and Wiley's friend was wounded in her arm and thigh, Wiley said. She said they then drove to a hospital, where Kohen was pronounced dead.

Foster's lawyer, Martin Zummach, has said his client had no choice because the car was moving at him. In a statement Friday, Zummach accused the car's driver, who hasn't been charged in the incident, of attempting to kill the officers.

"Hunter Foster had no choice but to discharge his weapon. We are very sad for the loss of life," Zummach said.

Asked if prosecutors may pursue charges against the driver, District Attorney Jay Hale said in a statement that his office would review the case now that the attorney general's office has made its determination on the police use of force.

"Once we are able to fully discuss this case with the investigating agency, we will make a decision as to any future grand jury presentations," Hale said.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents the family, said in response to news of Foster's resignation that he is calling on the Department of Justice to open an investigation into the shooting.

"Accountability can't end here. Body camera footage shows how quickly this escalated over an alleged shoplifting call," Crump said on social media.