In the early morning hours of January 6, 2024, the life of 27-year-old Britney Long, a mother of four from Indianapolis, was tragically cut short. Responding to a call of a person shot, police found Long in her home with a gunshot wound to the head as she lay in her bed. Her four young children, all under the age of seven, were asleep in an adjacent room at the time of the incident and were physically unharmed.
Long was rushed to a nearby hospital in critical condition, where she fought for her life for several days. Ultimately, her family made the difficult decision to remove her from life support, and through organ donation, she was able to save eight other lives.
The initial account of the shooting came from Long's fiancé, 32-year-old Jomal Tyler, who called 911 and claimed the shooting was an accident. He told authorities that he heard a noise outside, grabbed his firearm, and it 'just went off,' striking Long. However, investigators grew suspicious of his story. Traces of blood were found in his vehicle, leading detectives to believe he may have been preparing to flee. Furthermore, Long's family had long feared for her safety, stating that the couple's relationship was fraught with domestic violence. Her mother recalled that he had threatened to kill her on multiple occasions if she ever tried to leave him. There was also an open domestic violence case at the residence with the Department of Child Services.
Indianapolis police arrested Jomal Tyler on the evening of January 7, 2024, in connection with the shooting. He was initially charged with criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon. This initial charge drew criticism from Long's family, who felt it did not reflect the severity of the crime. Following further investigation, which included additional interviews, forensic evidence, a firearms report, and the autopsy results, the manner of Long's death was determined to be a homicide. Discrepancies in Tyler's account, such as being left-handed but claiming to have grabbed the gun with his right hand, and the trajectory of the bullet, contributed to the re-evaluation of the case. Consequently, the charges against Tyler were upgraded to murder.
