Lyft driver killed by former APD officer dreamed of becoming a professional wrestler – 95.5 WSB

UNION CITY, Ga. (AP) — A former Atlanta police officer is in prison on murder charges after killing his Lyft driver at a Union City intersection while giving the officer a ride home.

Officer Koby Minor said he shot Reggie Folks because he believed the driver was trying to kidnap him.

People’s families are mourning his death, saying he was just trying to make extra money.

According to the incident report on the murder, the former Atlanta Police Department member admitted to hearing a voice and believing he was being kidnapped.

Instead, Minor is accused of murdering a man who dreams of making it big as a professional wrestler.

Jalen Mason was the Folks’ tag team partner. He said people dream of making it big in movies, music or wrestling.

“The man had no enemies, he was friends with everyone,” Mason said.

But shortly after midnight Wednesday, Folks’ dreams were snuffed out when he was shot on South Fulton Parkway near Stonewall Tell Road while driving Minor home.

“Crazy things happen every day, and you never expect it to be someone you know,” Mason said. “So when it’s someone you know, it hits you hard.”

According to police, Minor said he heard a voice in his head and thought Folks was part of a gay fraternity that wanted to kidnap him.

“He had mental problems even saying something like that,” Mason said.

Police records indicate Minor had been on administrative leave from APD for several months.

In December 2023, Minor was arrested in Milton on Christmas Eve. Police documents show the former officer was involved in two accidents that evening, including one in which he told police he thought he was going around a roundabout but instead went straight through the roundabout and crashed into one Sign and hit the curb.

According to Fulton Co. Jail records, he was charged with purchasing or possessing a controlled substance and drugs not in the original container.

The charges were filed after officers found 20 loose prescription pills in his duffel bag and car. Minor had already surrendered his badge and service weapon while on administrative leave.

“He’s on drugs or he has a mental problem and needs help and he shouldn’t have been in this situation. My boy Reggie should not have been in the predicament that cost him his life,” Mason said.

After his arrest for shooting people, Minor resigned from his position with the APD. He is currently being held in the Fulton County Jail without bail.

The people’s wrestling group said it plans to hold a memorial service for him in the next few weeks.