A Bonaire man remains in the Coffee County Jail after he allegedly took his three-year-old son from the child’s mother’s home in Douglas and attempted to take him back to Bonaire. Houston County authorities arrested the man, identified as Lemoria Jay Moses III, 33, after Coffee County officials notified them that Moses may be headed to Houston County with the child.
According to a report from the Douglas Police Department, just before 4 a.m. on December 6, 2024, an officer responded to a call on Pinecrest Drive. In the report, the complainant stated that at 3 a.m., Moses came to her home and took their three-year-old son. He knocked on the door, the report states, and when the complainant opened the door, he went inside and took the child along with some of the child’s clothes. The report also says that Moses took her phone so she couldn’t call the police.
After Moses left, the complainant stated that she tried to call Moses multiple times but he wouldn’t answer. The report also says that Moses had not been legitimized as the child’s legal father.
E911 began gathering information to put out a BOLO for Moses. Authorities also contacted Houston County officers and let them know what happened and that Moses may be headed in that direction. A short time later, Houston County deputies had located Moses’s vehicle and stopped him. The child was found safe inside. The child’s mother went to Houston County and picked up her son.
Moses was arrested and charged with kidnapping as well as a probation violation. He was transported to the Coffee County Jail and remains in custody.