MELBOURNE, Fla. – A Palm Bay man has been indicted in the 2025 shooting death of a 2-year-old girl and the attempted killings of her grandparents inside a South Melbourne home, according to newly released court documents.
A Brevard County grand jury indicted Clifford Owen Long, 37, on charges of first-degree felony murder with a firearm, two counts of attempted first-degree felony murder with a firearm, burglary of an occupied dwelling while armed with a firearm and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
The charges stem from the Aug. 29, 2025, killing of Bles’syn Lightner at a home on Poplar Lane.
According to a probable cause affidavit released in the case, Melbourne police responded to the home and found Bles’syn dead inside a bedroom. Her grandmother, Alicia Hayes, and grandfather, Haywood Hilton, had both been shot and were taken to Holmes Regional Medical Center.
Investigators wrote that Bles’syn died from a single close-range gunshot wound to the forehead. The affidavit says six fired 9mm shell casings were recovered inside the home and that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement later determined they were fired from the same gun.
The newly released documents lay out how detectives say they built the case against Long over several months.
In one sworn interview, Hilton told detectives Long was “one hundred percent” the man who shot him, shot Hayes and killed Bles’syn, according to the affidavit. Investigators said Hilton later identified Long in a photo lineup.
The affidavit also says cellphone records and location data tied a phone linked to Long to the area near Poplar Lane around the time of the shooting.
Detectives wrote that Long told them he had been at a Sunoco gas station at the time of the killing, but surveillance footage showed him there later that night, not at the time of the murder.
The documents also include additional witness statements that investigators say helped strengthen the case.
Long appeared in court Wednesday. Online court records show the case will continue in Brevard County court.
News 6 went to the family’s home on Poplar Lane on Wednesday hoping to speak with Bles’syn’s family, but no one answered the door.