A Palm Bay man has been indicted for murder for the shooting death of a two-year-old south Melbourne girl and the attempted killing of her grandparents in August 2025.

The Brevard County Grand Jury indicted CLIFFORD O. LONG, 37, on March 31 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 say Long entered the family’s house on Poplar Lane on August 29, 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.

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.