Sheriff and District Attorney speak on Domestic Violence in Houston County

HOUSTON COUNTY — Domestic violence in our community can sometimes go unnoticed, but not this month. October is Domestic Violence Awareness month and county officials provided updates on the state of domestic violence in Houston County. 

Houston County Sheriff Matt Moulton said in an interview that the county has averaged about 5,800 calls for the last two years regarding domestic violence. The figure comes from a total in all the municipalities plus the Sheriff’s Office. 

Moulton said they have created an app in collaboration with the Macon Regional Crimestoppers for the public to submit anonymous tips. He said his office has seen over 100 more tips on average regarding family violence since the app’s creation, more than last year. Moulton said the overall violence in these cases went down dramatically over the last year. 

“In 2025, Houston County had 17 homicides, 14 of the victims were a direct act of family violence,” he said. “So far this year, Houston County has had two homicides and of the two, one has been an act of family violence.” 

Overall, Moulton said there is an 88% reduction in homicides, let alone family violence homicides. He believes the Crimestoppers app has contributed to the reduction. 

Most of the time, Moulton said it is the victims of domestic violence making the calls. Sometimes it could be children of the victim or a third party witness noticing a potential crime. 

“In most cases our deputies are trained to identify the primary aggressor and that’s done through testimonial and physical evidence at the scene or witness statements,” he said. “The charges may range from simple battery or a simple assault.” 

Domestic and family violence is often a crime conducted behind closed doors. Moulton said it is quite difficult to approach these crimes proactively and raising awareness can help in the long term. 

“It’s important to raise awareness to let people know that there are resources out there if you are a victim of family violence,” he said.  “If you see something, say something, and the most important thing is to make the call.” 

From the prosecuting side, Houston County District Attorney Eric Edwards said in an interview domestic violence cases make up a significant percentage in their case load and third largest, falling behind narcotics and theft based offenses. 

In wake of the family violence homicides last year, Edwards said law enforcement across the board have become more aggressive in making arrests earlier to try and prevent escalation that could lead to death. 

To combat domestic violence, the District Attorney’s Office has spread out on who gets assigned these cases as Edwards said are one of the most difficult to deal with given almost each one is different. 

“[Domestic violence] is all around us,” he said. “We’ve asked our jury pools if you or a loved one has been affected by family or domestic violence and almost every hand in there goes up.” 

According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, over 12 million women and men have been affected by some form of domestic violence in the course of a year, an average of 24 victims per minute.