Reporting family violence and other crimes in Houston County just got easier with new Crimestoppers app

WARNER ROBINS — 2025 was among the deadliest years for homicides and family violence in Houston County. Of 16 homicides last year, 14 were victims of domestic violence, according to the Houston County Sheriff’s Office.

On Thursday, the sheriff’s office announced a new tool to gather tips about family violence. In partnership with Macon Regional Crimestoppers, the agency launched the Macon Regional Crimestoppers app. The app provides a way to safely make anonymous tips on crime, including family violence.

At a press conference, Larry Najera, the app’s developer, said the app is available through Google Play and the Apple App Store. Submitting a tip through the app is as simple as pushing a button. 

The app serves Baldwin, Crawford, Houston, Jones, Monroe, Peach, and Twiggs counties.

Users can submit family violence tips, crime tips and follow ups. The app directs users to a form which is sent directly to Crimestoppers.

It also features a list of wanted fugitives, public safety alerts and links to call Crimestoppers and 911.

Najera said the app does not use artificial intelligence on the backend, and is a simple way to provide information.

“There’s no AI in this app at all. It is powered by community intelligence. Through the community and our partners, we’re able to [apprehend] the people we need to get to keep our community safer,” Najera said.

Sheriff Matt Moulton, who was also at the press conference, described four cases in 2025 that took multiple lives.

In April, a neighborhood in Perry was shocked by a quadruple homicide, where a man killed his girlfriend, her mother, her grandmother and a two-month old baby.

In January, Warner Robins experienced a case where a mother killed her two children, and then herself.

Warner Robins responded to another murder-suicide in August. 

Finally, the Houston County Sheriff’s Office arrested a man who killed his girlfriend and her mother in May.

“I’ve never experienced in my over 30-year career that level of family violence,” Moulton said.

Prompted by the uptick in cases, the sheriff’s office partnered with Crimestoppers in May 2025 to launch a campaign to spread awareness about domestic violence. The office distributed posters, launched social media ads, and released public service announcements on television and on YouTube. 

Crimestoppers began working on the app in August 2025.

Moulton believes the campaign is making an impact. He said there have been two homicides in Houston County in 2026, one a result of family violence.

“That’s an 88% reduction in homicides to date from where we were last year. So I think that the program, I think that the efforts that we’re making are working,” Moulton said.

Moulton said family violence is difficult to prevent, so the sheriff’s office needed an out-of the box solution. 

“Family violence is a crime that oftentimes happens in the privacy of our own homes behind closed doors, and it would be impossible for any law enforcement leader to put an officer or deputy in every home in their jurisdiction to ensure that that type of violence doesn’t happen. It’s very difficult to proactively police, so we knew we had to do something,” Moulton said.

Macon Regional Crimestoppers, according to director Warren Selby, was established in 2000 to assist law enforcement in apprehending criminals by providing rewards for tips that lead to arrests. So far, efforts have led to over 7,000 arrests and $1.2 million paid in rewards.

Tips made to Crimestoppers, and now through the app, are anonymous, helping to calm fears, according to Selby.

“Because family violence is very personal, providing information on crime a lot of times intimidates people,” Selby said during the conference. They’re afraid, [wondering] who do I give it to? What do I do? Where do I go?”

Selby called for the public to be forthcoming if they suspect crime.

“Someone else, as we always say, knows about a crime, sometimes before it occurs,” Selby said.

The public can submit tips through the app, by visiting crimestop.us, or by calling 1-877-68CRIME.