At first, he shied away from the podium, a young boy at a press conference called by the Suffolk Police to ask the public for help in finding those responsible for murdering his father. He had a group of steely eyed detectives behind him, and with some encouragement from his grandmother, seven-year-old Kyrie Long got up on a chair and said what was boiling up inside him.
“I feel sad, bad, and angry,” the little boy said to the cameras and the gaggle of reporters before him. “I want someone to find the person who did this.” Kyrie told of the day in Ronkonkoma two years ago when a car pulled up and the people inside shot his dad. He said he heard the gunshots and looked out the window. “I realized it was him,” he said of his fallen father.
“They don’t have their daddy anymore,” Long’s mother, Theresa Sexton said. “If anyone knows something, please say something, if not for me but for his sons. They are hurting really bad.” Sexton described her son as a loving father who took his kids everywhere. “Someone, anyone, if you care one bit, they need answers; they need closure,” Sexton appealed. “If you have a heart, do the right thing and bring these people to justice.
Terry Long, 32, went out to warm up his car to take Kyrie and his brother, Zashawn, to school. A four-door sedan pulled up, according to police, and he was shot dead. The case grew cold, and as part of National Crime Victims Week, the police displayed pictures of the car used in the shooting hoping someone would recognize it. Deputy Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina led the press conference backed by a half dozen detectives and another deputy, Belinda Alvarez-Groneman. “Victims of crimes never forget,” Catalina said. “You can see it on their faces,” he said of Long’s family.
A few digits of the get-away car’s license plate were visible, but detectives said they couldn’t make a match on the BMW. “We hope to get people talking,” Catalina said, “generate some new leads.” A $5,000 reward was posted by Suffolk County Crime Stoppers and anyone with information is encouraged to call 800-220-TIPS. As part of Crime Victims Week, the police are releasing information on unsolved crimes across Suffolk, including mug shots of a suspect who fired a gun in a road rage incident and a man who was indicted for a violent gang assault and kidnapping of a 15-year old.