A man killed a 38-year-old woman near Orlando on Wednesday morning and later returned to the scene on a shooting spree. Dylan Lyons, a 24-year-old news reporter for Spectrum News 13, who was covering the original murder at the time was fatally shot. The gunman also shot two other people in the Pine Hills area, including a mother and her child; they were later identified as 38-year-old Nathacha Augustin and 9-year-old T’yonna Major. The latter has since died from her injuries while the mother remains in critical condition.
One of the news station’s photographers, Jesse Walden, was also critically wounded in the shooting spree. He was transported to the Orlando Health Regional Medical center, where he received treatment and is currently in stable condition.
According to Orange County Sheriff John Mina, the gunman, 19-year-old Keith Melvin Moses, has since been arrested and taken into custody. In addition to killing three people, he is also accused of injuring the 38-year-old mother. Police officials are currently trying to determine the motive behind the shootings. Mina remains hopeful that he will talk to them at some point about his motives as they’re not sure what was on his mind at the time.
How the Deadly Shooting Unfolded
According to reports, the first shooting took place at approximately 11 a.m. on Wednesday, January 22nd. A woman in her 20s was shot and killed inside her car on Hialeah Street. Officials believe that the woman was an acquitance of the gunman, though it has not been confirmed.
Moses was allegedly in the vehicle after he was picked up by a cousin, who offered to drive him on Wednesday night. According to an affidavit, he was in the vehicle for less than a minute before the shooting occurred.
Police officials have since spoken to the cousin, who witnessed the initial shooting. According to his statement, he had picked up a female friend from her home and they had been smoking marijuana for approximately 30 minutes before they ran into Moses, who was walking on the street.
The cousin noted that Moses “seemed down” at the time and offered him a ride. The latter then entered the vehicle from the rear passenger side, which put him behind the woman. Just a few seconds later, there was a loud bang and the cousin reported seeing blood on the woman’s face. He immediately pulled over and called 911. Moses promptly ran away.
Several hours later, after the car had been towed from the area, Moses returned to the neighborhood and shot two news journalists who were covering the original homicide. He then forcefully entered a home on an adjacent street and shot a mother and her young daughter, the latter of whom later died from her injuries.
Police officials were quickly able to identify Moses as the gunman in the first homicide and were following potential leads when the Spectrum News 13 journalists were shot at approximately 4 p.m. Authorities believe that Moses had no connection to the mother and daughter nor the journalists. They are also trying to determine if the gunman knew that the employees were journalists as their vehicle did not have any determining markings on it.
Following the second shooting, investigators recovered a pistol that was used in the deadly attack. They’ve also obtained video evidence of Moses at the time of the shooting. They are currently trying to track down how the 19-year-old was able to obtain the firearm.
According to deputies, Moses was “uncooperative” when confronted and later fought with the staff at the hospital and had to be restrained. They also confirmed that while he is a known gang member, the attacks themselves aren’t gang-related.
Since the incident, Spectrum News 13 has posted a tribute on its website for reporter Dylan Lyons, who has been working for the news network since July 2022.
