Deadlyft

On May 15 after 12:00 a.m. in Atlanta, Georgia, Reginald Folks, a local wrestler who went by the stage name Reggie Rage, was driving for Lyft when he picked up a man who requested a ride to his home address. Neither one of them would make it home.

About twenty minutes after Folks picked up the rider, police officer Koby Minor reported that the passenger thought that Folks was in a gay fraternity and was trying to recruit him. He stated that Folks spoke in a different language on the phone, which somehow prompted the rider to believe he was being kidnapped. The rider tried to exit the vehicle at a stop light, but the doors were locked. It’s unknown whether the rider couldn’t figure out how to unlock the door, or if the child lock was on, or what exactly was the reason why the rider could not exit the vehicle.

Then Folks tried to reach the back to the rider, which is when the rider felt like he was being kidnapped and shot Folks three times—one shot in the head and two in the body. The rider broke the backseat window, got out of the car, and waved down a passing car for help. Folks was pronounced dead on the scene when officers arrived. But who was this rider and why did he believe he was being kidnapped?

On May 15, Reginald Folks woke up and went to the AR Fox’s World Wrestling Alliance 4 to practice some wrestling moves. He had a match that Friday and wanted to ensure he had his choreograph all together. 

While at the gym, Folks was very excited to show his fellow wrestler, Christian Turner, the first wrestling shirt that he made. Christian Turner was also an up and coming wrestler who upon learning the death of his friend, Reggie Rage, said that Folks always had a smile on his face and was a good person. 

Folks did get paid for his wrestling matches, but it was not enough to cover the bills. So he drove for Lyft to make extra cash. Living in Atlanta, there were always parties and tourists who needed rides so driving for Lyft was easy money. 

Folks usually drove for Lyft from early afternoon to late evening, but the rides were coming in back to back, and the more money he made before his match, the more time he could spend in the gym getting ready for his match.

It was after 12:00 a.m., and Folks was getting tired. He decided that the next ride would be his last, and the address the rider was going to wasn’t too far from his own home.

When Folks picked up the rider, he noticed that the man looked tired and in deep thought, almost as if he was bothered by something. This was very unlike the late-night partygoers and excited tourists that Folks was used to picking up. But it was after 12:00 a.m., and the rider was coming from a house, not the club. Folks assumed the rider had a booty call or could have gotten kicked out of his girlfriend’s house for all he knew.

While Folks drove to the rider’s destination, he got on the phone through his car’s Bluetooth and told his mom that he would be heading home on his last ride.

There is no evidence that Folks knew another language, but the rider felt like he heard the driver speak a foreign language which spooked him. So the rider told Folks to stop the car so he could get out, but they were riding on the highway so Folks couldn’t just stop in the middle of traffic.

When Folks got off the highway and came to a red light, the rider tried to exit the vehicle but the doors were locked. Folks reached into the backseat to help unlock the door, but that also spooked the rider, so he pulled out his handgun and shot Folks in the head and two more times in the back. Folks died immediately. The rider broke the backseat window, climbed out, and flagged down a passing car.

A female driver was driving by when she saw a black man waving for help. She saw a stopped car behind him with broken backseat glass and could tell that something wrong had happened and this guy needed help.

When the driver stopped, the guy said that he was getting a Lyft and the driver was in a gay fraternity and trying to kidnap him into recruitment. 

This story sounded bizarre to the driver, and she got a feeling that this guy was not mentally stable, so she called the police on the scene.

When Atlanta Police arrived, they were shocked to see their fellow officer, Koby Minor. 

Koby Minor was the rider who ordered the Lyft, and shot Folks three times, killing him because he believed he was being kidnapped into a gay fraternity.

Minor joined the Atlanta Police Department in 2018. Minor had been on unpaid administrative leave since December 2023 due to being involved in a single car accident where police officers found 20 Xanax pills in Minor’s car, in a sandwich bag, and on his person. He also appeared to be impaired on the scene.

On the night Minor ordered a Lyft, he was leaving the house of a fellow Atlanta police officer. We still don’t know if Minor was under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of arrest. He is currently held in Fulton County Detention Center on charges of aggravated assault and murder.

Disclaimer:

I went to high school with Koby Minor at Austin East High School in Knoxville, TN. We weren’t friends but often saw each other in school. Some people say that they always thought Minor was crazy. I never paid much attention to him, so I remember him as a normal kid. He loved comics and anime and often dressed as Blade at cosplay events. Minor joined the Marines and did a tour in Iraq before joining Atlanta’s police force. His mother died in 2022, and that had a significant impact on his well-being, but joining the Marines and the passing of a mother are definite indicators to committing murder. Prayers for Minor’s mental health and for Folks’ family and friends.