ORLANDO, Fla. – Dylan Lyons, a 24-year-old Orlando TV reporter shot and killed Wednesday while covering a story, is being remembered as someone who was “full of life” and who “lit up a room.”
Lyons, who worked for Spectrum News 13 since last summer, was one of three people fatally shot Wednesday in Pine Hills. Nathacha Augustin, 38, was shot to death in the morning, and Lyons was shot hours later while covering her homicide, authorities said.
[RELATED: 3 killed in Pine Hills shootings | Timeline | White House, others react | What we know about suspect]
The suspect, 19-year-old Keith Melvin Moses, then shot and killed 9-year-old T’yonna Major, according to Orange County Sheriff John Mina.
A News 13 photographer and the girl’s mother were also wounded in the shootings, Mina said.
A motive in the shootings is not known.
Lyons interned at News 6 while attending the University of Central Florida before starting his journalism career in Gainesville.
“Dylan wanted so badly to be a broadcast journalist,” said News 6 Reporter Erik Sandoval. “He was excited for his future, and we were excited for him. When I saw him last year at an awards ceremony (where he won), I gave him a huge hug. Dylan was talented. Dylan was electric. Dylan had a future.”
UCF professor Rick Brunson remembered Lyons as a standout student.
“He was always front and center in every class. Always engaged, fully 100%, in discussions, in debates we would have,” Brunson said. “I taught him in our basic news writing class. He was always in my office with his copy, trying to make it sharper, trying to make it better.”
Brunson described Lyons as “full of life and energy,” adding that he “just lit up a room.”
“He was an amazing young journalist ... a leader among our students. Amazing, amazing young man,” Brunson said.
A dedicated and motivated reporter, Dylan was shot and killed while working at the scene of a homicide. Spectrum News remembers our fallen colleague. https://t.co/264x3y8Lup
— Spectrum News 13 (@MyNews13) February 23, 2023
Spectrum News 13 identified the photographer who was critically wounded in the shooting as Jesse Walden.
Authorities believe Moses, who was arrested on murder charges in the death of Augustin, is responsible for the other Orlando-area neighborhood shootings, with charges expected later Thursday.
“I want to acknowledge what a horrible day this has been for our community and our media partners,” Orange County Sheriff John Mina said. “I work closely with all of you and know many of you and know the very difficult job that you do and also the very important job that you do for our community and for law enforcement. 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.”
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