A journalist, a 9-year-old girl and a woman were killed Wednesday in a string of shootings that left two others injured in the Orlando area. A suspect has been arrested.
As more information on the shooting came in Thursday morning, authorities identified the victims as T’yonna Major, 9, journalist Dylan Lyons, 24, and Nathacha Augustin, 38, according to a tweet from the Orange County Sherriff’s Office on Thursday.
T’yonna was a third-grader at Pine Hills Elementary School. In messages sent to families and posted to social media, the principal and district superintendent expressed their grief and support, and the principal remembered the girl’s “infectious smile.”
T’yonna’s mother and a photojournalist also were critically injured in the shooting in the Pine Hills subdivision, just northwest of Orlando, Florida.
The shootings started earlier Wednesday with the death of Augustin. Lyons, a reporter for Spectrum News 13, and his colleague, photojournalist Jesse Walden, went to cover the scene. The suspect accused of killing Augustin returned and allegedly opened fire, killing Lyons and injuring Walden, according to Spectrum News 13. The gunman then killed Major and injured her mother.
Family members and colleagues at the Orlando-based Spectrum 13 remembered Lyons as a passionate journalist who served his community.
“He took his job very seriously. He loved his career. He loved what he did,” said Josh Miller, a Spectrum Sports 360 reporter and friend, in an obituary published by the news outlet. “He loved the community, telling the stories of people, reporting on the news, and he was just passionate about what he did.”
As of Thursday, officials said a motive had not been identified.
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Who is the suspect?
On Wednesday around 11 a.m., Orange County deputies responded to reports of a woman, later identified as Augustin, who was shot in Pine Hills. She was in a vehicle with the suspect’s cousin when she was killed, Orange County Sheriff John Mina said Thursday.
Detectives later identified Keith Melvin Moses, 19, as the suspect and detained him.
“Once they did detain him, homicide detectives who were familiar with him from the previous case said, ‘Yeah, that’s our same guy from the earlier homicide,'” Mina said.
Mina said Moses has a “lengthy criminal history,” including gun charges, aggravated battery and assault with a deadly weapon, burglary, and grand theft charges. In a news conference Thursday, Ninth Judicial Circuit State Attorney Monique Worrell said Moses’ only adult offense was drug possession, and the charges had been dropped. She noted his previous juvenile adjudications, which aren’t publicly available in Florida, don’t qualify as convictions according to state law.
Moses was arrested Wednesday and formally charged with murder in the first incident. Authorities expect to charge Moses for the additional shooting of the four people.
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What happened in the later shootings involving journalist and 9-year-old?
Around 4 p.m. Wednesday, the suspect returned to the scene and approached a Spectrum News 13 vehicle as a news crew reported on the shooting earlier that morning, Mina said.
The gunman opened fire while Lyons and Walden were in or near the vehicle, then walked to a nearby home, where he shot T’yonna and her mother, witnesses said.
Lyons and T’yonna died from their injuries. Walden and the girl’s mother were hospitalized and were still in critical condition Thursday afternoon .
What we know about 9-year-old T’yonna Major
T’yonna Major was a third grader at Pine Hills Elementary, according to an Orange County Public Schools spokesman.
“I know I speak from our entire Pine Hills community when I express the grief we feel at the loss of one of our own. She was a kind and beautiful young girl with an infectious smile. She will be missed dearly,” Principal Latonya Smothers said in an audio message sent to families.
Smothers said T’yonna’s mother, who was also shot, was in critical condition. “We are hopeful she makes a full recovery,” she said.
Superintendent Maria Vazquez posted to Twitter reacting to the tragedy.
“Words cannot express the disbelief and anger I feel about the senseless violence yesterday that led to three deaths, including one of our precious students. My deepest sympathies and prayers go out to their families and friends. These tragedies have become all too common and it needs to stop. We must work together as a community to end these horrible tragedies,” Vazquez wrote.
What we know reporter Dylan Lyons
Lyons was born and raised in Philadelphia but made central Florida “his home” when he attended University of Central Florida, according to an obituary published by Spectrum News. He moved to Gainesville to follow his dream of anchoring and reporting the news, motivated by “his desire to tell stories that impact local communities,” according to his bio.
“When he was out of the news station, he was still talking about how much he wanted to succeed at his job, talking about how much he loved Orlando,” said Miller, a Spectrum Sports 360 reporter and friend of Lyons.
Lyons was “very close” to his mother and family and “loved his girlfriend dearly,” according to the obituary.
“The amount of people that will miss him, I’m sure, I can’t even come to fathom how many,” Miller said.
A loving uncle, Lyons was “an acting father” to his niece and nephew, his sister wrote on a GoFundMe page for funeral expenses.
Tributes from loved ones and colleagues poured in on social media. Casey Lynn, a woman identifying herself as Lyons’ fiancée, said “the love of my life was murdered” in a heartbreaking Twitter post. Lyons’ Twitter account had linked to Lynn’s account with heart emojis.
“I will never be the same person ever again,” she said in the tweet.
In an on-air report, Spectrum 13 journalist Celeste Springer asked for the public’s support.
“Please, please, say a prayer tonight for our co-worker who is in critical condition,” Springer said. “And while you’re at it, please say a prayer for every victim of gun violence in this country,”
Walden, who is recovering at a hospital, said Lyons was a friend first, Spectrum 13 reported.
“You’re losing a friend,” Walden told Spectrum 13. “You’re not losing an acquaintance or just coworker — it’s someone that made working fun.”
Walden said he and Lyons both started working together on the night shift in 2022. He described Lyons as a “wholesome person” with “a very strong sense of justice,” according to the outlet.
What was the motive?
Mina said in a news conference Thursday that authorities have not determined why the gunman went on the shooting rampage but are continuing to investigate. He said Moses has not been cooperating with detectives, “pretended to be asleep” during questioning and resisted law enforcement.
“It is unclear why he shot the first victim” and the others, Mina said.
He also said the news vehicle didn’t have typical TV station markings.
“But certainly we have seen (violence against media) around the nation and around the world,” Mina said. “So that’s something we’re definitely going to be taking a look at and see if we can put the pieces together and see why this happened.”
‘Another tragic reminder’
Gun violence is the leading cause of death for children in the U.S., accounting for about 20% of all child deaths nationwide, according to an analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation. More than 4,300 children ages 1 to 19 died by firearm in 2020, the latest data available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
This year so far, more than 800 children and teens were injured by or died of gun violence, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
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And globally, 40 journalists were reported killed last year, plus another two this year before Wednesday, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Only one of those was in the United States.
- Jeff German, who covered politics and corruption for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, was found dead in September after being stabbed multiple times. Former Clark County Public Administrator Robert Telles, who had been a frequent subject of German’s reporting, has pleaded not guilty to a murder charge.
- In 2015, Virginia reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward were shot and killed during their live TV broadcast for CBS affiliate WDBJ7. The suspect, a former reporter for the TV station, died by suicide during the law enforcement search for him.
White House responds to shooting of journalist
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre expressed her condolences on Twitter.
“Our hearts go out to the family of the journalist killed today and the crew member injured in Orange County, Florida, as well as the whole Spectrum News team,” Jean-Pierre tweeted.
The National Press Club said it was “horrified” by the shooting and urged reporters to take extra precautions in a Wednesday statement.
“This is another tragic reminder that journalism is a dangerous business and that criminals and those that are the subject of reporting can become violent toward reporters who are doing their jobs,” the organization said. “We call on those who use hateful rhetoric against journalists online to carefully consider the consequences of their actions.”
Florida’s ‘Constitutional Carry’ bill
In recent months, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has expressed support for the state’s constitutional carry legislation and the expansion of gun rights.
Dubbed as “constitutional carry” by supporters, the phrase refers to the view that the right to bear arms guaranteed by the Second Amendment negates any need for a permit or license to carry a gun in public, either openly or concealed.
The proposal would make Florida the 26th state to allow people to carry concealed loaded guns without permits and has already been cleared through the state Senate panel. The Florida House Judiciary Committee also has voted to advance its version of the legislation.
The state currently has 2.6 million concealed weapons permits. Residents who receive a permit are required to undergo firearms training and must be cleared with a background check that shows they are not convicted felons or have any other restrictions.
Contributing: John Kennedy, Capital Bureau | USA TODAY NETWORK – FLORIDA; The Associated Press
Contact Christine Fernando at cfernando@usatoday.com or follow her on Twitter at @christinetfern.
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