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The teenage gunman who killed a Florida journalist and a nine-year-old girl after returning to an earlier crime scene was ‘high’ when police arrested him, and is refusing to explain his murderous spree.
Keith Melvin Moses, 19, is in custody for the murder of Nathacha Augustin, a 38-year-old woman he allegedly shot at 11am yesterday.
Nathacha was in the passenger seat of Moses’ cousin’s car when the cousin spotted him walking down the street, looking ‘down’.
The cousin offered to give him a ride and Moses got in the backseat, but then shot Augustin in the chin and fled.
Local reporter Lyons and his cameraman Jesse Walden flocked to the scene of that shooting and were preparing to report on it for their nightshift.
That is when Moses is accused of returning to the scene, shooting them both. He then walked into a nearby home and shot and killed nine-year-old girl T’Yonna Major.
T’Yonna’s mother Brandi was also shot and is recovering in the hospital.
Keith Melvin Moses smirked and smiled as he was taken away in handcuffs after being arrested in connection to the three killings in Orlando, Florida. The terror started just after 11am, when a woman, 20, was found dead on the street with shotgun wounds. Then at 4.05pm that day – as broadcasters gathered to report the local news – the suspect is believed to have returned and started firing again
Keith Melvin Moses is now in custody refusing to speak to police. Cops said he appeared to be under the influence of drugs when they arrested him
Her family are now fundraising to pay her mother’s medical bills, and to cover the cost of the child’s funeral.
‘Senseless violence has taken the life of my little girl, T’Yonna Major.
‘She was a light to everyone that knew her. She was everything to us,’ her father said in a GoFundMe page set up for the family.
Police arrested Moses moments after the murders and said his gun – a .45 Glock handgun – was still ‘hot to the touch’.
At a press conference on Thursday, Orange County Sheriff John Mina said Moses is a known gang member who has refused to explain why he committed the murders, but that he appeared to be high when he was arrested.
‘We are not looking for anyone else. This is our guy,’ Sheriff Mina said, adding that witnesses and surveillance footage place Moses at the scene.
Nine-year-old T’Yonna Major was shot dead in her home when the gunman stormed in and opened fire
T’Yonna’s mother Brandi was also shot. She remains in the hospital
‘When deputies took him down they thought he might be under the influence of some kind of drug but none of that has been confirmed – his eyes were dilated,’ he said.
Police took him to the hospital after he complained he ‘couldn’t breathe’.
There, he began ‘fighting with hospital staff’ and had to be restrained.
Once in police custody, Moses ‘pretended to be asleep’ to try to get out of his interview.
He remains in custody but is refusing to talk to detectives.
‘Moses is not speaking to us. We’re unable to determine a motive at this time.
‘It’s unclear why he shot the first victim, why he targeted the folks in the news media and it’ unclear why he shot a nine year old and her mother.
‘We’d like to answer this for our community – why did he do this? Why did he shoot these people?
‘His firearm was empty, thankfully. I’m not sure if he would have kept shooting people in that community,’ Sheriff Mina said.
It’s unclear how he obtained the gun.
Dylan Lyons, 24, was shot and killed while reporting on a shooting in Pine Hills, Florida, yesterday. He was just six months into his job at Spectrum News 13
Cameraman and photographer Jesse Walden, who was with Lyons at the time, was also shot. He remains in the hospital in critical condition
An arrest report details how Moses was caught with 4.6grams of cannabis, ski masks and a gun in a car
In 2021, Moses was arrested for marijuana possession after police found him in a car with two other young men.
As they approached the vehicle, one of them tossed a gun out the window.
Moses had 4.6 grams of cannabis on in his pocket, and was on probation for juvenile offenses at the time.
The men also had ski masks in their car and all prior arrests for weapons offenses and burglary.
But because of the low amount of marijuana Moses was carrying at the time, he never received a prison sentence and at-most, would have only ever been given probation.
It’s unclear whether cops charged any of the young men for possession of the weapon, which was stolen.
Moses’ prior offenses occurred before he was 18, which the State’s Attorney’s office says limits them from discussing them.
The State’s Attorney’s Office would not discuss them on Thursday morning when contacted by DailyMail.com.
In a statement last night, State Attorney Monique H. Worrell said: ‘Our sincere condolences go out to the families of those whose lives were lost… due to the pending criminal charges in this matter, we are unable to comment further on the details of this case as it is now an open and ongoing investigation.’
Last night, WESH 2 News reporter Luana Munoz wept on-air as she reported from the hospital where Lyons was confirmed dead.
‘I apologize. This is really difficult to cover. It is very emotional here…
Dylan Lyons’ heartbroken fiancée, Casey Lynn (left) wrote: ‘The love of my life was murdered. I will never be the same again.’ The young reporter (right) was killed while on duty in Florida
‘There are people here who knew that reporter, his fiancée and I were just embracing.
‘This is every reporter’s worst nightmare. We go home at night afraid that something like this will occur. One of our own has just passed. I’m going to send it back to you guys so I can get myself together.’
Lyons’ colleagues at Spectrum News 13 also paid tribute to him on-air.
‘He took his job very seriously, he loved his career, he loved what he did.
‘He loved the community, telling the stories of people, reporting the news. He was just passionate about what he did.
‘When he was out of the news station he was still talking about how much he wanted to succeed. Very close with his mom too,’ his colleague and friend Josh Miller said.
Anchor Ybeth Bruzual said: ‘This is a profound loss on so many levels because it’s impacting us at our doorstep, but there is a child that is dead, a mother who is injured, another co-worker who is hospitalized.
‘So please bear with us as we also try to process the fact that our co-worker will not be coming to join us here. He is gone.
‘His family is trying to figure things out. Dylan was so special. He died while doing what he loved the most – doing his job.’
Julia Gargotta added: ‘Of course for us we’ve been talking about this nonstop, up all night. We sit here in unity and in mourning thinking about our colleague who lost his life, he’s now being identified as Dylan Lyons.’
Lyons’ heartbroken fiancée took to social media last night to share her grief.
‘The love of my life was murdered. I will never be the same again,’ she said as she shared a link to a GoFundMe page dedicated to covering his funeral costs.
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