UNION CITY, Ga. — A former Atlanta police officer is in jail for murder after killing his Lyft driver at an intersection in Union City while they drove him home.
The officer, Koby Minor, said he shot and killed Reggie Folks because he thought the driver was trying to kidnap him.
Folks’ loved ones are mourning him, saying he was just trying to earn extra money.
Channel 2′s Michael Doudna was in Union City learning more about Folks and Minor.
According to the incident report on the murder, the now-former member of the Atlanta Police Department admitted to hearing a voice and thinking he was being kidnapped.
Instead, Minor is accused of murdering a man with dreams of making it big as a professional wrestler.
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Jalen Mason was Folks’ tag team partner. He said Folks dreamed of making it big in movies, music or wrestling.
“The man had no enemies, he was friends with everybody,” Mason told Channel 2 Action News.
But just after midnight on Wednesday, Folks’ dreams were snuffed out when he was shot and killed at South Fulton Parkway near Stonewall Tell Road while he drove Minor home.
“Crazy stuff happens every day, and you never expect it to be somebody you know,” Mason said. “So when it is somebody you know, it hits you hard.”
According to documents obtained by Channel 2 Action News from police, Minor said he was hearing a voice in his head nd thought Folks was part of a gay fraternity that was trying to kidnap him.
“He had mental issues to even say something like that,” Mason said.
Police records show Minor was already on administrative leave for several months from APD.
In December 2023, Minor was arrested on Christmas Eve in Milton. Police documents said the former officer was involved in two accidents that evening, including one where he told police he thought he went around a roundabout, but instead drove straight through it, hitting a sign and the curb.
He was charged with purchase or possession of a controlled substance and drugs not in the original container, according to Fulton Co. jail records.
The charges came after officers found 20 loose prescription pills in his duffle bag and car. As previously reported by Channel 2 Action News, Minor had already turned in his badge and service weapon while on administrative leave.
“He’s on drugs, or he’s got some mental problem and needs help and shouldn’t have been in that scenario. My boy Reggie shouldn’t have been in the predicament that cost him his life,” Mason told Channel 2 Action News.
After his arrest for shooting Folks, Minor resigned his position with APD. He’s currently in the Fulton County Jail without bond.
Folks’ wrestling group said they plan to hold a memorial for him in the next few weeks.…Read more by Michael Doudna
