The toddler, Kohen Wiley, was killed when police officers shot at a vehicle he was in after they responded to a shoplifting call at a local Walmart store.

In one text message, the chief, Harold Vanderford, described having a “racist moment.” In another, he wrote that he “almost beat a removed and white woman’s ass a few minutes ago.”

Vanderford used the racist slur, spelled various ways, more than a dozen times in a series of 10 text conversations dating back to last summer and continuing after he became chief. The texts were provided to reporters by the person who had received them, who said they came from Chief Vanderford. Three other acquaintances confirmed that the phone number associated with the messages belonged to the chief.

Three months before the Walmart shooting, Vanderford texted a colleague to lament Mississippi State University’s performance in a college sporting event, referring to a player using a racist slur.

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When he took over the department, Chief Vanderford, a 60-year-old native of Greenville and 29-year veteran of law enforcement, vowed his tenure would focus on “reestablishing and solidifying trust” with the community.

Then, in June, his officers confronted Vellesiya Wiley and Latoya Ferrell after they were accused by people in a Walmart of stealing baby clothes and a pack of diapers. The pair got into a vehicle, and officers surrounded them with raised guns.

Wiley, who was in the passenger seat holding her son, said that as they drove away, she lifted up the boy in an effort to make sure officers saw him. Then she heard three or four shots.