Suspect in Florida spree that killed journalist and two others pleads not guilty to first murder charge, more expected

Joseph Wilkinson, New York Daily News
Updated ·2 min read

The Florida teenager accused of fatally shooting a woman, a news reporter and a 9-year-old girl in a baffling shooting spree pleaded not guilty Friday to the first of three murder charges he’s expected to face.

Keith Moses, 19, entered the plea in connection with the killing of Nathacha Augustine, 38, on Wednesday morning outside Orlando, local CBS affiliate WKMG reported.

Moses is also suspected of killing local Spectrum News 13 reporter Dylan Lyons and 9-year-old T’yonna Major later that day. Authorities have not yet filed charges in connection with those two cases.

Police said Moses fatally shot Augustine, his acquaintance, around 11 a.m. Wednesday on residential Hialeah Street in Pine Hills, about 5 miles west of downtown Orlando. He then fled the scene.

Lyons and News 13 photographer Jesse Walden arrived later that day to cover the shooting. They were sitting in their car around 4 p.m. when Moses opened fire on the vehicle, police said. Lyons was killed; Walden was wounded.

“It’s hard to know if he was targeting this news crew,” Orange County Sheriff John Mina said Wednesday, adding it was “unclear if he knew they were news media or not.”

After opening fire on the news crew, Moses ran into a nearby house and shot 9-year-old T’yonna and her mother, Brandi, according to police. Brandi was released from the hospital Thursday, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

Mina said it was also “unclear why the suspect entered that home.”

Authorities tracked down Moses and arrested him after the two afternoon shootings. He was quickly charged with first-degree murder for the killing of Augustine. Charges in connection with the other four victims are expected in the coming days.

“I want to acknowledge what a horrible day this has been for our community and our media partners,” Mina told a room full of reporters on Wednesday. “No one in our community — not a mother, not a 9-year-old and certainly not news professionals — should become the victim of gun violence in our community.”