Army Staff Sgt. Kevin Anthony Long, 40, was indicted June 27, 2023, by a federal grand jury for first-degree murder in the death of a 2-year-old girl in 2019 at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. (Greene County Sheriff’s Office )
A Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., operations sergeant was indicted on a murder charge last week in the death of a 2-year-old girl who was in the care of the soldier’s wife in their home, according to the Department of Justice.
Army Staff Sgt. Kevin Anthony Long, 40, was accused of physically assaulting the toddler in 2019 and causing blunt force injuries “as part of a pattern and practice of assault,” according to court documents unsealed last week. He is charged with murder in the first degree and making a false statement during the investigation.
A federal grand jury returned the indictment June 27, which was kept sealed until Long’s arrest Friday.
Long, the operations sergeant for Bravo Company of the 58th Transportation Battalion, remains in federal custody pending a detention hearing Thursday, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Missouri. He was being held at Greene County jail in Springfield, according to online jail records.
The court documents do not name the child, but stated the crimes occurred Nov. 6, 2019, in Long’s home at Fort Leonard Wood where his wife ran a day care. Long’s wife did not have the required authorization to keep children in their home, said Dawn Arden, spokeswoman for Fort Leonard Wood.
Long lied about knowing these requirements when asked about it by law enforcement officials on Nov. 22, 2019, which led to the second charge against him, according to the court documents.
Long has spent nearly 20 years in the Army with deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, according to his service record. His home of record is listed as River Rouge, Mich.
Fort Leonard Wood, which is home to training schools for the Army’s engineers, military police and chemical experts, is located about 100 miles northeast of Springfield. Roughly 13,000 military and civilian personnel work at the base.
