WASHINGTON (7News) — A D.C. Superior Court judge found probable cause Tuesday to charge Niwatilagu Anthony Long, 45, of Washington, D.C., with second-degree murder while armed in the shooting death of 44-year-old D.C. resident Melvin Saunders.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro announced the decision by Judge Rainey Brandt, which stems from Saunders’ killing in the early morning of Dec. 19, 2025, in Northeast Washington.
Long was arrested at the D.C. Superior Court after the completion of a preliminary hearing in a separate case in which he is charged with assault with a deadly weapon. In that case, Long is accused of pistol-whipping another victim, Donald Cook, on Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026…