Court Documents Reveal DNA Samples led up to Teenager’s Arrest for Breaking into a Home two years ago
Source: Indiana State Police / Indiana State Police
INDIANAPOLIS — A teenager was charged with murder, more than two years after he broke into a home and shot and killed 22-year-old Naya Ruffin.
19-year-old, Octavionn Long, was charged with murder, burglary resulting in serious injury, and robbery resulting in serious injury.
Court documents say the crime wasn’t solved for two years after Long and another man wore masks, broke into a northeast Indianapolis home, shot and killed Ruffin and stealing items from a safe.
Ruffin was sleeping on the couch after arguing with her boyfriend, who was in the bedroom. The teenager and the man broke through the sliding glass door and had a gun.
The boyfriend told police he heard Ruffin scream before she was shot. The teenager and the man wanted to know what was inside the bedroom and held the gun to the boyfriend’s head. As the safe was being broken into, that’s when the boyfriend heard a gunshot. He then saw Ruffin outside the home.
The boyfriend made sure his child was safe, and he was asleep in another room, and then he saw Ruffin lying outside after being shot/ She was rushed to the hospital, but she did not survive.
Police took DNA samples from blood found that was found on the safe, in the bedroom, and under the boyfriend’s fingernails. The evidence was linked to Long, who was already serving time at Branchville Correctional Facility on an unrelated case. Police say Long denied ever being at the apartment but confirmed his DNA matched multiple samples from the scene.
Court documents also tied Long to a crime that involved Ruffin’s boyfriend in 2021. Although the boyfriend couldn’t identify anyone in a photo lineup due to the intruders being masked, he described them as younger, with one being tall and broad-shouldered.
Long was taken to the Branchville Correctional Facility as police are investigating. He could face up to 65 years in prison or possibly a lifetime sentence.
