A suspect was indicted for the murder of a 2-year-old in Central Florida.
The Brevard County grand jury recently indicted 37-year-old Clifford O. Long on one count of first-degree premeditated murder, two counts of attempted first-degree murder, and one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Melbourne Police investigators said Long entered the family’s house on Poplar Lane, shot grandmother Alicia Hayes in a hallway and shot the little girl, Bles’syn Lightner, and grandfather Haywood Hilton as they played in a bedroom.
Bles’syn died from a single, close-range gunshot to her forehead, the Brevard County Medical Examiner’s Office determined. Hayes and Hilton were treated for serious wounds at Holmes Regional Medical Center.
Clifford Long, known as “Goof,” emerged as a suspect during months of follow-up interviews and other investigation by Melbourne Police detectives. Long has a history of violence and drug-related offenses. He matched the grandfather’s description of the shooter as a tall, thin, light-skinned black male with a head shaped “like a football.” The grandfather later identified Long as the shooter in a police photo lineup.
The Palm Bay man was indicted for murder for the shooting death of a 2-year-old south Melbourne girl and the attempted killing of her grandparents in August 2025.
