William P. Long Jr.

LISBON — The ex-husband of a Leetonia teacher shot to death outside her home on Nov. 29, 2023 is now in the Columbiana County Jail charged with her murder.

William P. Long Jr., 50, North Market Street, Lisbon, was indicted Wednesday by a special session of the Columbiana County Grand Jury and taken into custody at his place of employment, Vallourec Star in Youngstown.

According to the indictment, Long was charged with aggravated murder and murder, both unclassified felonies, along with a first-degree felony of discharging a firearm upon a roadway, and firearm specifications for using a gun for each count in the death of 50-year-old Michelle A. Long.

The aggravated murder charge alleged that on Nov. 29, 2023, William P. Long Jr. “did purposely, and with prior calculation and design, cause the death of Michelle A. Long.” The murder charge allegedly that he purposely caused her death. The third charge alleged that he discharged a firearm upon or over a public road or highway and the violation caused serious physical harm to any person.

Columbiana County Prosecutor Vito Abruzzino and Sheriff Brian McLaughlin announced the indictment and arrest in a press release. Abruzzino said he’s asking for a bond of $1.5 million cash or surety. If convicted, he said William P. Long Jr. could be facing life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Late last fall, Michelle Long was found deceased in her vehicle outside of her residence located on Carey Road, Salem in Butler Township. Abruzzino said her vehicle was on the road near her mailbox.

Neither Abruzzino nor McLaughlin would go into detail about the evidence, the weapon or what they believe happened.

When asked why it took so long to get an indictment, both referred to the large amount of evidence that had to be processed in the case.

“In the months following the incident, detectives from the Sheriff’s Office and investigators from the Major Crimes Task Force worked hand in hand, to review and process large amounts of digital and forensic evidence to attain today’s indictment from the Grand Jury,” the press release said.

Abruzzino said “very different evidence requires very different analysis.”

While it seems like a long time between when the offense occurred and the indictment, he said their focus is on charging and convicting. The second the investigators had the information he believed was needed for a conviction, he called for a special grand jury, the grand jury indicted the defendant and he was arrested within an hour.

As of now, arraignment is set for June 27 in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court.

Abruzzino said “these types of cases affect a community like ours in a big way,” which is why his office does what it does best, gets solid convictions in new homicides and in cold cases.

McLaughlin also talked about the amount of technical information to go through and said that takes time.

Abruzzino said Michelle’s sister, who was the contact for the family, had been notified about the indictment.

“I’m sure it brought some relief to the family,” McLaughlin said.

At the time of her death, Michelle was a teacher at Leetonia High School as the math/STEM/industry teacher, junior high robotics coach and junior high track coach. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. She had been with the district for eight years and her death left the staff members, administrators, fellow teachers and students in shock.

Just last Friday night during the Class of 2024 graduation at Leetonia, a lone chair was sitting on the stage known as the chair of remembrance and a candle was lit to honor anyone who had passed on. This year, that chair represented the memory of Michelle Long, a well-loved and respected teacher gone too soon.

A 1991 graduate of United High School, she was the daughter of Karen Lynn (Hill) Lewis and the late Richard Harold Lewis. She was also survived by her two sons and her sister, Sara.

“This case was very important to my office, and our detectives did an outstanding job getting it prepared to be successfully indicted by the grand jury,” McLaughlin said in the press release.

Abruzzino added that “Michelle, her family, and the community all deserve accountability for this terrible crime, and I am confident this step will lead toward that end.”

Abruzzino and McLaughlin credited the work of their respective agencies and the Major Crimes Task Force, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Columbiana County Coroner’s Office, and the Columbiana County Sheriff’s Office Special Response Team for their investigative work in this case.

Early in the investigation, there had been search warrants executed, including one at the home of William P. Long Jr. in Lisbon.

Abruzzino praised the work of the various detectives who worked on the case as part of the Major Crimes Task Force.

“It’s wonderful we have that resource in the county when serious cases occur, we’re able to have all hands on deck to process the evidence,” he said.

mgreier@mojonews.com