Men charged in 2023 murder of college student hit by stray bullet

Two men have been charged with murder more than a year after a college student was killed by a stray bullet as she was working at a bar in south Georgia, authorities said while announcing multiple other related arrests in a wide-ranging indictment of alleged gang members.

Tsion Clayton, 23, and Kimone Green, 21, both of Lowndes County, Georgia, have been charged with one count of malice murder in connection with the death of Brianna Long on Oct. 29, 2023, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced last week.

Long, a 21-year-old bartender at The Pier, in Remerton, Georgia, and other employees were closing the bar down and had stopped serving customers when there was a shooting outside after what authorities described as an “altercation.”  

Long and another bar staffer were struck by gunfire, authorities said. Long was taken to South Georgia Medical Center, where she later died. Her coworker recovered from his wounds. Agents believe Clayton and Green were in the area “looking for another person related to an ongoing gang dispute” when the shots were fired.

Three months after the shooting, authorities offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case.

The GBI said its agents and the Remerton Police Department had worked for more than year investigating the shooting and eventually identified Clayton and Green as suspects. Both men are in custody for separate, unrelated cases — one in Georgia and the other in Florida.

Clayton and Green are among seven people charged in a 44-count racketeering indictment, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr announced on Thursday. The suspects are accused of being involved in a gang called 528, which has been linked to murder, robbery, assault and more.

“Most of the murders that have recently occurred in Valdosta (a city near Remerton) over the past couple of years have been gang-related,” Southern Judicial Circuit District Attorney Bradfield M. Shealy said in a statement, according to CBS affiliate WANF. “This gang violence has resulted in a number of deaths, including Brianna Long. Gang violence does not just affect gang members but also innocent members of our community.”

Long’s obituary described her as a “bright light in the lives of all who had the pleasure of knowing her.” Long graduated Paulding County High School in 2020 and was on track to graduate from Valdosta State University with a degree in dental hygiene. 

“She was crowned Miss PCHS for superlatives, a testament to her outward beauty, charismatic persona, and the deep connections she formed with her peers,” her obituary read. 

Her family told WSB-TV in 2023 that Long was a lifeguard as well as a high school soccer star and cheerleader.

“There was not a fun time that we did not have with Brianna,” her uncle Kevin Long told the station. “She was always making everyone smile.”

A GoFundMe to support the family has raised more than $25,000. 

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said the case is still active and anyone with information on the shooting can call the GBI at 229-225-4090.