Coweta County names new K-9 facility after deputy killed in the line of duty

The Coweta County Sheriff’s Office is naming its new K-9 training facility in memory of a beloved deputy.

Sheriff Lenn Wood, Georgia First Lady Marty Kemp and Coweta County officials dedicated the Minix K-9 Facility this week. Deputy Eric Minix died in January after a high-speed chase that began in Georgia and crossed into Alabama.

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Minix started with the Coweta County Sheriff’s Department in 2014 before he left to join the Tyrone police department for five years.

He returned to the sheriff’s office and brought his K-9 with him. The department eventually moved Minix to its crime suppression unit.

The sheriff’s office says the Minix K-9 Facility will not only serve its office, but other agencies as well.

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Minix died on Jan. 3 in Lanett, Ala. Deputies told Channel 2 Action News that a driver in a stolen car led Minix on a high-speed chase that crossed several counties and entered Alabama.

Alabama officers had set up stop sticks, which stopped the high-speed chase. Minix got out of his car and started to give commands to the driver when an officer with Lanett, Ala. police pulled up.

The officer couldn’t stop in time and ran into Minix, according to the sheriff. Minix died at a hospital. Alabama officials charged the driver, identified as 25-year-old Decedric Donson, in the crash.