Incident Details
- Date of Incident
- February 22, 2023
- Location
- Pine Hills, Florida
- Targets
- Dylan Lyons (Spectrum News 13)
- Assailant
- Private individual
- Was the journalist targeted?
- Unknown
Assault
Spectrum News 13 reporter Dylan Lyons, 24, was killed in a shooting in the Orlando suburb of Pine Hills, Florida, on Feb. 22, 2023. His colleague, photojournalist Jesse Walden, 29, was critically injured.
Alleged shooter of Spectrum News reporter indicted on first-degree murder charges
On March 30, 2023, a Florida grand jury indicted a man on 16 charges, including first-degree murder, for attacks that resulted in the shooting death of Spectrum News 13 reporter Dylan Lyons and critical injuring of photojournalist Jesse Walden, according to court records. Two others also died in the February attacks.
The man, identified as Keith Melvin Moses, is now charged with three counts of first-degree murder, a capital offense. A hearing of his case is scheduled for April 10.
Additional charges brought against alleged shooter of Spectrum News reporter
On March 10, 2023, a Florida state attorney brought 10 additional charges against the man arrested for the shooting death of Spectrum News 13 reporter Dylan Lyons.
Lyons and Spectrum News 13 photojournalist Jesse Walden were covering a homicide investigation on Feb. 22 in the Orlando suburb when a man approached their vehicle and began shooting at it. Walden was critically injured; his assault is documented here.
On the GoFundMe launched to support the family and help pay for funeral services, Lyons’ father wrote that was buried over the weekend of March 4 and 5.
The shooter, identified as Keith Melvin Moses, was arrested the day of the shooting in connection with the original homicide investigation. Additional charges were filed against him a week later for the shooting of Lyons and Walden, as well as a third shooting at a nearby home that left a woman wounded and killed her 9-year-old daughter.
According to court documents, Florida State Attorney Monique Worrell brought additional charges against Moses on March 10. In total, he is now facing:
- Three counts of second-degree murder with a firearm;
- Two counts of attempted first-degree murder;
- Burglary of a dwelling with an assault or a battery;
- Two counts of shooting at, within or into an occupied vehicle;
- Two counts of shooting at, within or into a building;
- Possession of a firearm by a person found to have committed a delinquent act;
- Carrying a concealed firearm;
- Three counts of resisting an officer without violence; and
- Armed trespassing in a structure.
Worrell told Spectrum News 13 that Florida law requires an indictment for first-degree murder, which she expects will come. She said her intention is to vigorously prosecute the case against Moses.
Moses pleaded not guilty to charges from the first shooting on Feb. 24, and pleaded not guilty to charges from the second, which included the attack on Lyons and Walden, on March 6.
Man charged in the shooting death of Spectrum News reporter
On Feb. 28, 2023, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office charged a man with the shooting death of Spectrum News 13 reporter Dylan Lyons.
Lyons and Spectrum News 13 photojournalist Jesse Walden were covering a homicide investigation on Feb. 22 in the Orlando suburb when a man approached their vehicle and began shooting at it. Walden was critically injured; his assault is documented here.
By that evening, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office had arrested and charged a man, identified as Keith Moses, with murder from the original homicide investigation. On Feb. 28, the man was also charged with the murder and attempted murder of Lyons and Walden, as well as murder, attempted murder and armed burglary in connection with another shooting that left a woman wounded and killed her 9-year-old daughter.
Sheriff John Mina said in a press conference after the attacks that the shooter’s motivations were unknown, and it remains unclear whether the journalists were targeted because of their reporting. Lyons is the seventh journalist in the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker database to be killed in the course of or as the result of their reporting.
Reporter killed while covering homicide identifed as Dylan Lyons, 24
Spectrum News has identified the reporter killed in a shooting on Feb. 22, 2023, in Pine HIlls, Florida, as 24-year-old Dylan Lyons.
Lyons and a Spectrum News 13 photojournalist — now identified as Jesse Walden — were covering a homicide investigation in the Orlando suburb when a man came up to the Spectrum 13 news vehicle and began shooting at it. Walden was critically injured; his assault is documented here. Lyons is the seventh journalist in the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker database to be killed in the course of or as the result of their reporting.
By that evening, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office had arrested and charged a man, identified as Keith Moses, with murder from the original homicide investigation. In a press conference, Sheriff John Mina said they believed the morning’s homicide, the deadly attack on the news crew and another shooting that left a woman wounded and killed her 9-year-old daughter, were related, and they expected more charges to be filed. Mina said the motivations were unknown, and it remains unclear whether the journalists were targeted because of their reporting.
“It is unclear if he knew they were news media or not.” Mina said. “We're still trying to work all that out.”
Spectrum News 13 reported that Lyons, a Philadelphia native, had made his home in Central Florida.
"He took his job very seriously. He loved his career. He loved what he did,” said Josh Miller, a friend and Spectrum Sports 360 reporter. “He loved the community, telling the stories of people, reporting on the news, and he was just passionate about what he did."
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre acknowledged the news colleagues on Twitter the evening following the shootings.
“Our hearts go out to the family of the journalist killed today and the crew member injured in Orange County, Florida, as well as the whole Spectrum News team.”
Two Spectrum News 13 journalists were shot while reporting at the scene of a homicide investigation in the Orlando suburb of Pine Hills, Florida, on Feb. 22, 2023. A reporter was declared dead at a local hospital where a photojournalist remains in critical condition, according to multiple sources.
The reporter and photojournalist were reporting on an Orange County Sheriff’s Office investigation into the shooting of a 20-year-old woman at approximately 11 a.m. that day, Spectrum News 13 reported.
Shortly after 4 p.m., a man believed to be the suspect in that shooting approached the news crew as they were sitting in an unmarked news vehicle and shot them. The man then continued to a nearby home and shot a woman and her 9-year-old daughter.
WFTV Channel 9 News reporter Sabrina Maggiore wrote on Twitter that the shooter walked past a WFTV news crew at the scene before opening fire on the Spectrum News crew. She wrote that the WFTV crew ran up to the journalists to provide aid before emergency crews arrived.
Spectrum News 13 reported that it is not currently releasing the names of the reporter and photojournalist out of respect for their families.
Sheriff John Mina said in a press conference at 7:15 p.m. that a man had been arrested in connection with the shootings.
“We have detained the person believed to be responsible for the murder this morning as well as the shootings this afternoon,” Mina said. “He is being formally charged in the murder from this morning, and we expect additional charges for the shootings of the four people this afternoon.”
Mina added that the shooter’s motives were unclear and they had not yet determined whether the news crew were targeted because they were covering the first shooting.
“I want to acknowledge what a horrible day this has been for our community and our media partners,” Mina said. “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.”
Charter Communications, Spectrum News 13's parent company, released a statement on Twitter following the shooting: "We are deeply saddened by the loss of our colleague and the other lives senselessly taken today. Our thoughts are with our employee’s family, friends and co-workers during this very difficult time. We remain hopeful that our other colleague who was injured makes a full recovery. This is a terrible tragedy for the Orlando community.”
WESH 2 News Reporter Luana Munoz tweeted that she and other members of the news media community had gathered at the hospital in solidarity.
“This is every reporter's absolutely worst nightmare. We go home at night afraid that something like this will occur, and that is what happened here,” Munoz said during a report from the hospital.
Since 2017, more than 300 journalists have been shot at or shot, according to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s database. The Spectrum News 13 reporter is the seventh journalist to be killed in the course of or as the result of their reporting.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to [email protected].
