A Pennsylvania man was found guilty of trying to kill his ex-wife more than a year after prosecutors said he broke into her home while she was napping, then pistol-whipped and repeatedly shot her.
Lebanon County prosecutors said Darrell Long called himself a “hero” after the March 2025 attack, during which his ex-wife, Dawn Long, fought back against him and survived several shots to her limbs, per The Patriot-News.
At the end of Darrell’s jury trial on Tuesday, September 22, he was convicted of attempted homicide, aggravated assault, burglary and harassment.
“This has been what she has been fixated on and hoping for, and I’m so thankful the jury gave her the verdict that she deserved and that the evidence supported it,” Lebanon County District Attorney Pier Hess Graf said of Dawn following the verdict, according to the Lebanon Daily News.
Darrell turned himself in to police hours after the violent attack on Dawn on March 25, 2025, and admitted to what had happened.
Dawn had been napping on her couch when Darrell arrived that evening, uninvited and armed with a .22 caliber handgun, according to the district attorney’s office.
Darrell admitted to hitting Dawn in the head with the firearm, leading to a struggle before he shot her, prosecutors said in a news release issued last year.
He said he wanted to “make her suffer as he has suffered,” per the Lebanon Daily News.
Dawn testified at trial that her ex-husband shot her five times in her arms and legs, according to WGAL.
When investigators spoke with Dawn and her adult child at a hospital after the attack, they learned she had blocked him from contacting her phone.
This allegedly led to Darrell sending the child several messages meant for Dawn, including one sent after the shooting, which prosecutors said read: “You have no dignity you took everything from me and treat me like I’m a f***ing dog well guess what every dog has its day later.”
At trial, Darrell’s defense attorney, R. Scot Feeman, acknowledged his client had “shot his ex-wife” while contending he did so without wanting to kill her, per the Lebanon Daily News.
While listening to recordings of phone conversations between Darrell and his relatives that occurred when Darrell was behind bars, jurors reportedly heard Darrell say he was “glad” he shot Dawn.
Darrell’s sentencing hearing is set for December 9.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for confidential support.
