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Suspect In Shooting Deaths Of 3, Including Local TV News Reporter And 9-Year-Old Girl Is 'Known Gang Member,' Authorities Say
Keith Melvin Moses is being held without bond and is suspected of killing Nathacha Augustin, Dylan Lyons and T'yonna Major.
A Florida man is suspected of killing three people, including a local TV news reporter and a 9-year-old girl in a shooting spree Wednesday in Orlando.
Keith Melvin Moses, 19, has been jailed without bond and is currently charged with just one count of first-degree murder for allegedly killing Nathacha Augustin, 38, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office announced in a Thursday press release. But, they said, additional charges are still pending.
Augustin was riding around Orlando in a car with an unidentified man around 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning when they came across Moses walking north on Hastings Street, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by Law and Crime.
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The man, who told police he had known Moses for six years, said his friend "seemed down." He offered a ride to the 19-year-old.
About 30 seconds after Moses got int his white Hyundai, the man told authorities, he heard a loud bang – he turned to see blood on Augustin's face. The man told investigators he did not hear Moses and Augustin exchange words before the shot was fired, but that the two were acquaintances.
"The witness stated he did not have any problems with anyone, and to his knowledge [Augustin] did not have any problems with anyone," authorities wrote in the affidavit.
When he pulled over, Moses bolted, the witness told authorities.
When investigators arrived, they found Augustin with a bullet wound to the left side of her chin and a spent casing in the vehicle.
At around 4 p.m. that day, authorities received reports of two additional shootings in the same area. The first was at the same location where Augustin was shot and involved a television news crew sent to cover the morning killing, according to CBS News.
There they found Spectrum News 13 reporter Dylan Lyons, 24, shot dead. He and photographer Jesse Walden were shot in or near their news vehicle.
Walden survived the attack, but was critically injured, per coverage from his news station, but is "talking to his colleagues" and "offered his thanks to the community for the support he has received."
Lyons moved to Florida to "do what he loved - anchoring and reporting the news" and "took his job very seriously," according to a tribute posted by Spectrum News 13. Josh Miller, the company's sports reporter and a friend of Lyons, wrote that he "loved the community, telling the stories of people, reporting on the news, and he was just passionate about what he did."
Orange County Sheriff John Mina said in a Thursday press conference that it was unclear whether the reporter and photojournalist were targeted or whether Moses even knew they were with the media.
Following the shooting of Lyons and Walden, authorities say Moses entered the nearby home of 9-year-old T'yonna Major and her mother, shooting both. The child died at the hospital, Mina said, while her mother, who has not been identified, has continued to "fight for her life."
The sheriff said they did not know whether Moses knew the mother and daughter, and that it remained "unclear why the suspect entered that home."
On Thursday the department released body camera footage of Moses' arrest shortly after the killings. Mina said that Moses is a "known gang member" and that responding homicide detectives were familiar with Moses due to his lengthy rap sheet, according to NBC News.
"At 19, he has a lengthy criminal history to include gun charges, aggravated battery and assault with a deadly weapon, burglary and grand theft charges," Mina said.
