The family of Alex Newton, the East Atlanta man who was shot at his apartment complex on Halloween, launched a GoFundMe campaign to help authorities locate a suspect. In just over 24 hours, more than 300 donors contributed almost $30,000 to help.
According to official reports, on Monday, Newton, 30, arrived at his apartment in Alexan EAV on Metropolitan Avenue around lunchtime and found the door kicked in and a man inside. The two men fought and Newton was shot and killed.
On Wednesday, police released photos from a resident's surveillance camera of a man they are calling a suspect.
The same day, Newton's brother, Joseph "Trey" Newton, launched a fundraising campaign on GoFundMe with the goal of raising money to supplement the reward offered by Crime Stoppers to anyone with information on the suspect.
There was such an outpouring of support that the reward goal was bumped up twice in a single day to accommodate the additional funds. By Friday morning, the campaign goal had been bumped to $30,000 of which $27,650 had been donated.
Trey Newton said he would add money from the GoFundMe campaign to the Crime Stoppers reward fund in even withdrawals. The money would be paid to anyone providing information about the person seen in the video footage.
In his GoFundMe story, Newton said he has already submitted commitment letters to Crime Stoppers and will continue to do so until the funds are released from GoFundMe. When the funds are released, he will write checks to cover the amounts he has committed.
It was unclear what would happen to the GoFundMe donations if no one comes forward to provide information to Crime Stoppers.
Yesterday on Facebook, Crime Stoppers announced a reward increase of up to $5,000 for anyone with information on the shooting .
Individuals can provide anonymous tips on the crime to Crime Stoppers by calling 404 577-TIPS (8477).
