The Metropolitan Police Department has confirmed the arrest of a suspect linked to a homicide that shook the Northeast community last December. The suspect, identified as 45-year-old Niwatilagu Long, was apprehended yesterday, January 8, according to a recent MPD report.
Authorities were called to an apartment on the 1000 block of North Capitol Street in the early hours of December 19, 2025, responding to a report of a shooting. Upon arrival, officers found an adult male victim, later identified as 44-year-old Melvin Saunders of Northeast, DC, according to the same MPD release. Despite the efforts of DC Fire and EMS, Saunders was pronounced dead at the scene, having sustained a gunshot wound.
The investigation culminated in the issuing of a DC Superior Court arrest warrant preceding Long's arrest. He has been charged with Second Degree Murder while Armed. The MPD has not released additional details regarding the circumstances leading to Saunders' death or what might have prompted Long's alleged involvement in the crime.
