Mississippi police chief fired after racist text messages surface amid Kohen Wiley shooting scrutiny
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Senatobia Police Chief Harold “Hal” Vanderford was removed after investigative reporting uncovered repeated use of racist slurs.
City leaders in Senatobia, Mississippi, have fired Police Chief Harold “Hal” Vanderford after investigative reporting revealed that he repeatedly used racist slurs in private text messages. The Harold Vanderford firing comes as the department faces renewed scrutiny over the killing of 1-year-old Kohen Wiley.
Mississippi Today reported that Vanderford submitted a resignation letter Tuesday, Sept. 1, but Senatobia’s Board of Aldermen rejected it and voted unanimously to terminate him instead. Alderman Chris McConnell said city leaders “did not accept Vanderford’s resignation and fired him.”
Lt. Angelica Maze will lead the department until city officials appoint a permanent replacement.
The firing came days after Mississippi Today, Verite News and The New York Times reported that Vanderford used the N-word more than a dozen times across 10 text conversations dating from July 2025 to April 2026. The messages continued after Vanderford became police chief in October 2025.
In one message, Vanderford described having a “racist moment.” Reporters also documented messages in which he wrote about repeatedly saying the slur aloud and expressed hope that his neighbors had heard him. Five acquaintances ultimately confirmed that the phone number tied to the messages belonged to Vanderford.
Vanderford’s firing followed two closed-door meetings between the chief and Senatobia aldermen. After the first meeting on Aug. 25, a statement attributed to the mayor and board expressed confidence in Vanderford, but McConnell and Alderman Demetrius Garrett later said the board had never voted to approve that statement.
Garrett made the motion to fire Vanderford on Tuesday. He has also called on Mayor Greg Graves to resign.
The controversy unfolded while the Senatobia Police Department was already facing scrutiny over the June fatal shooting of 1-year-old Kohen Wiley, a Black toddler. Sgt. Hunter Foster, the officer identified in the shooting investigation, had separately faced complaints accusing him of racially offensive remarks toward co-workers.
Mississippi Today reported there is no indication Vanderford disciplined Foster over those complaints before the shooting. Foster was placed on leave two days after Wiley’s death, and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is still investigating the case.
Vanderford has not publicly addressed the racist-text reporting or Wiley’s shooting.