19-year-old Keith Moses has entered written pleas of not guilty to the charges of first-degree murder in the deaths of Dylan Lyons, 24, and T’yonna Major, 9.[0] He also pled not guilty this week to attempted murder charges related to the shootings of News 13 photographer Jesse Walden and T’Yonna’s mother Brandi Major. Moses had already pleaded not guilty to the death of 38-year-old Nathacha Augustin.[1]
In an arrest affidavit, it was stated that on February 22nd, Moses shot Augustin dead after accepting a ride from her and another man in a car on Hialeah Street.[2] Court records state that, approximately one hour after detectives had departed the location, Moses came back and shot two Spectrum News 13 journalists, resulting in the death of 24-year-old Lyons and the injury of photojournalist Jesse Walden.[3]
He also went to a nearby house and killed 9-year-old T’Yonna Major and critically wounded her mother, Brandi Major, authorities said.[2]
Moses has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted first-degree murder, and one charge of armed burglary for his involvement in the shootings of Augustin, T’yonna, Lyons, Walden, and Brandi Major.[4]
He has a criminal history that includes eight felonies and 11 misdemeanor cases, all but one of which happened when he was a juvenile.[5] None of those offenses would have incarcerated Moses for life, according to State Attorney Aramis Worrell.
Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida posed the query to Worrell as to why Moses had been permitted to go without restraint.[6] Moses would not have been incarcerated for life, or even been justified in receiving such a sentence, according to Worrell’s support of the decision in those cases.
The governor’s office has requested copies of all documents related to Moses’ criminal records and juvenile record, including reports, letters, summaries, statements, emails, and any other related decisions made about him.[7] The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives tested the firearm in order to establish if it had been used in other crimes, a statement noted. They are currently looking into the results of this comparison, however, they do not have that information at the present time.[8]
0. “Man accused in Pine Hills shootings pleads not guilty to killing TV reporter, 9-year-old girl” WFTV Orlando, 8 Mar. 2023, https://www.wftv.com/news/local/man-accused-pine-hills-shootings-pleads-not-guilty-killing-tv-reporter-9-year-old-girl/KTSUMGU52ZG6BFTL3N74I7PHJ4/
1. “19-year-old pleads not guilty in deaths of 9-year-old, reporter” WESH 2 Orlando, 8 Mar. 2023, https://www.wesh.com/article/keith-moses-pleads-not-guilty/43249381
2. “Suspect pleads not guilty in killings of 3 people including journalist, 9-year-old” Yahoo! Voices, 8 Mar. 2023, https://www.yahoo.com/news/suspect-pleads-not-guilty-killings-194900174.html
3. “Shooting spree defendant pleads not guilty to murdering news reporter and 9-year-old girl” Law & Crime, 8 Mar. 2023, https://lawandcrime.com/crime/shooting-spree-defendant-pleads-not-guilty-to-murdering-news-reporter-and-9-year-old-girl/
4. “Keith Melvin Moses update: Man pleads not guilty in killings of 3 in Pine Hills mass shooting” FOX 35 Orlando, 8 Mar. 2023, https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/man-pleads-not-guilty-in-killings-of-orlando-journalist-child-court-documents
5. “Here are the charges to be filed against 19-year-old accused in deadly Pine Hills shootings” WKMG News 6 & ClickOrlando, 8 Mar. 2023, https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2023/03/08/orange-osceola-state-attorney-monique-worrell-to-provide-update-on-case-of-community-interest/
6. “State attorney details previous arrests of mass shooting suspect Keith Moses” WFTV Orlando, 9 Mar. 2023, https://www.wftv.com/news/local/state-attorney-detail-previous-arrests-mass-shooting-suspect-keith-moses/2MNO774YANHKZGLISWCP47N2SU
7. “‘It’s dangerous’: State Attorney accuses Gov. DeSantis of politicizing Pine Hills shootings to try to suspend her” WESH 2 Orlando, 9 Mar. 2023, https://www.wesh.com/article/monique-worrell-keith-moses/43260085
8. “Worrell says DeSantis is building a case to suspend her from office” Orlando Sentinel, 9 Mar. 2023, https://www.orlandosentinel.com/politics/os-ne-monique-worrell-ron-desantis-keith-moses-orlando-shootings-20230309-fwrzqchyvfgtjlqhmxi62vifkm-story.html
