Kristopher Whitaker, the final defendant in the May 2023 robbery of a couple outside their home on Mint Green Lane, pleaded guilty Monday, October 19, 2026, in Bibb County Superior Court to Robbery by Force. He was sentenced to 20 years, with the first 10 years to serve in prison. The Court granted Whitaker First Offender status.
On May 1, 2023, deputies responded to a robbery on Mint Green Lane. The victims told investigators they were pulling into their residence when a white SUV with a flat tire pulled up and a group of suspects wearing ski masks and armed with guns jumped out and demanded their car. The suspects fled in the victims’ Nissan. The victims told deputies they recognized one of the robbers by his voice, which led investigators to Whitaker.
Officers later apprehended Whitaker walking on Elkan Avenue and found the white SUV with the flat tire parked at a basketball court on Village Green. During an interview with investigators, Whitaker, who was 15 years old at the time of the offense, admitted his involvement in the armed robbery and identified his codefendants, Wali Cooke and Kendall Whitaker.
Cooke, who was 17 years old when the incident occurred, drove the getaway vehicle. He was sentenced on August 5, 2026, to 20 years, with the first 10 years to serve in prison, after pleading guilty to Robbery by Force. Kendall Whitaker, who was 13 years old at the time, pleaded guilty to Armed Robbery and was sentenced on August 17, 2026 to 20 years, with the first five to serve.
“All three young men responsible for this crime have now been held accountable, and the victims no longer have to wonder whether the people who put guns in their faces in their own driveway will answer for it,” said Macon Judicial Circuit District Attorney Anita Howard. “These defendants were teenagers when they made the choice to commit a horrifying crime. Our community cannot wait for young people to reach a courtroom before we pay attention to them and what they do. That is why our office continues to invest in initiatives such as R.I.S.E., which works to reach youth early and connect them with mental health services, trauma support, and positive community ties. We will keep holding violent offenders accountable, and we will keep working to make sure fewer of our children ever end up in this position.”
