Kevin Long (Greene County Jail)
A 40-year-old staff sergeant in the U.S. Army is accused of killing a 2-year-old child, allegedly beating the little girl to death at an illegal day care run by his wife at their home on a Missouri military installation. A federal grand jury last week returned a true bill indicting Staff Sgt. Kevin Long on one count of first-degree murder and one count of making a false statement or representation about a matter within a federal agency’s jurisdiction in connection with the child’s slaying, court documents reviewed by Law&Crime show.
The two-count indictment was initially returned under seal on Tuesday, June 27, and made public on Friday, June 30 following Long’s arrest and his first appearance before a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri.
According to a copy of the probable cause indictment, on Nov. 6, 2019, Long, with malice aforethought, “did unlawfully kill Jane Doe by physically assaulting Jane Doe in a manner of blunt force injuries, in the perpetration of child abuse, or a part of a pattern and practice of assault against a child.” The alleged fatal assault is said to have taken place at Fort Leonard Wood, in Missouri’s Pulaski County.
In a press release, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri stated that on the day the victim was killed, she had been left in the care of Long and his wife, who were allegedly running an unlawful day care out of their on-base home. It is not clear if Long’s wife is facing any charges for allegedly running the day care.
The child’s death allegedly took place within the confines of Fort Leonard Wood, meaning the crime falls within the “special maritime or territorial jurisdiction of the United States,” which is why the case is being prosecuted in federal court. The U.S. Attorney’s Office noted that a murder committed in the perpetration of child abuse constitutes “murder in the first degree.”
The second charge stems from Long allegedly lying to federal investigators looking into the circumstance of the toddler’s death.
The indictment states that Long on Nov. 22, 2019, “did willfully and knowingly make a materially false, fictitious, and fraudulent statement and representation” when he allegedly told investigators “that he was unaware of United States Army regulations that restricted the operation of a day care at Fort Leonard Wood.”
“The statement and representation were false because, as Kevin Long then and there knew, United States Army regulations restricted the operation of a day care at Fort Leonard Wood,” the indictment states.
The case was investigated by the United States Army – Criminal Investigation Division, St. Robert, Missouri, Police Department, and the Missouri Department of Social Services, prosecutors said. It will now be prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ami Harshad Miller and Shannon T. Kempf.
Long has remained in custody since his initial arrest and is scheduled to appear in court on July 6. He is being represented in the matter by Assistant Federal Public Defender Brian D. Risley. The public defender’s office did not immediately respond to a message from Law&Crime seeking comment on the case.
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