On Wednesday, a 19-year-old career criminal went on a shooting spree in Orlando, Florida, killing a 20-year-old woman, a journalist, and a nine-year-old girl, all in different locations.
At 11:17 am on Wednesday, Keith Melvin Moses shot a 20-year-old woman on the 6100 block of Hialeah Street. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Five hours later, at approximately 4:05 pm, Moses returned to the murder scene where two Spectrum News 13 journalists were reporting on the woman’s death. The suspect began firing, gunning down the photographer and the news reporter, Dylan Lyons, who died from his injuries. The photographer, Jesse Walden, remains in critical condition.
Moses then took off running, entering a nearby home where he shot a mother and her nine-year-old daughter. Both were taken to the hospital, but sadly, the girl died from her injuries. The mother is currently fighting for her life.
Moses, who has a lengthy criminal rap sheet, was arrested on Wednesday afternoon. In an image of him being led away by police officers, Moses appears to be smirking.
“At 19, he has a lengthy criminal history to include gun charges, aggravated battery and assault with a deadly weapon, burglary, and grand theft charges,” reported Orange County Sheriff John Mina at a press conference.
Online records show that Moses was arrested in November 2021 on charges of cannabis and drug paraphernalia possession. However, it appears these charges were dropped the following month.
It is currently unclear what the motives for the killings were, if any. It is also unclear if the suspect was connected to the victims of his second or third shooting. Law enforcement officials reported that Moses did know his first victim.
“[Moses] was an acquaintance of the woman this morning, but as far as we know, had no connection to the reporter and no connection to the mother and 9-year-old. We don’t know why he entered that home,” said Mina.
“The vehicle didn’t look like a typical news vehicle with a lot of markings on it,” the Sheriff said of the Spectrum News 13 news vehicle. “It’s possible that he could have mistaken them for law enforcement. I just don’t know at this time.”
“The suspect is not saying much right now,” Mina added. “It is unclear if he knew they were news media or not. We’re still trying to work all of that out. That vehicle was almost exactly in the same spot the vehicle was from the homicide this morning. So, it’s unclear why exactly they were targeted, and we’re certainly going to look into that, and we’ll definitely let you know.”
Mina confirmed that Moses is “eventually going to be charged.”
