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Left: Bles’Syn Lightner (Buggs Funeral Home). Right: Clifford Long (Brevard County Jail).
A tragic incident unfolded in Florida when a 37-year-old man allegedly broke into a family home and fatally shot a 2-year-old girl, leaving her grandparents injured. The suspect, Clifford Long, faces charges of first-degree murder for the death of Bles’Syn Lightner, along with two counts of attempted murder.
According to the Melbourne Police Department, officers responded to a shooting at a residence on Poplar Lane around 10:40 p.m. on August 29. Upon arrival, they discovered a 48-year-old woman and a 54-year-old man with serious gunshot wounds. Despite their injuries, both were conscious. Tragically, the officers found young Bles’Syn in a bedroom with a gunshot wound to her forehead. She was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.
At the time of the incident, four additional adults and two other children were present in the home, but they were unharmed. Bles’Syn had recently celebrated her second birthday, just four days before the shooting. She lived in the home with her parents, who were attending a concert at the time, and her grandparents. Investigators noted there were no signs of forced entry, and initially, the surviving victims claimed they did not know the assailant.
However, during later interviews, the male victim identified the shooter as Clifford Long, who is reportedly known by the nickname “Goof.” The investigation continues as authorities work to piece together the events leading up to this heartbreaking crime.
But in subsequent interviews, the male victim identified the shooter as Long, who is known as “Goof.”
“It is worth noting, Clifford Long’s appearance identically matches [the victim’s] description of the suspect as being a tall, thin, light-skinned [B]lack male with a head shaped ‘like a football,’” investigators wrote.
The surviving male said he saw Long shooting his granddaughter before he stepped over the girl’s body and started firing at him, according to the affidavit.
Long later allegedly admitted to his brother that he killed the girl, saying “They wouldn’t come off that money,” indicating that the possible motive for the shooting was related to a robbery or drugs. He also allegedly told his brother that he didn’t mean to kill Bles’Syn.
About a week after the shooting, Long and his brother allegedly stabbed a homeless man over 30 times and chopped off his finger with a machete over a drug-related dispute.
When interviewed by cops about the alleged murder, he denied involvement and claimed he was at a gas station at the time of the crime. He said he knew Bles’Syn’s father but did not know the family very well, though he heard about what happened.
“To be honest with you, I didn’t shed a tear but my condolences to the family,” he said, per cops.
Long has been in the Brevard County Jail for the machete attack since September. He remains behind bars without bond. His next court date is set for May 20.