‘A light to everyone’: Victims of Orlando-area shooting spree identified, reports say

Families and friends on Thursday are sharing cherished moments as they mourn loved ones lost the day before in three suburban neighborhood shootings near Orlando — a 9-year-old girl and a journalist.

The mother of the 9-year-old girl and another news reporter with Spectrum News 13 were also shot and now are fighting for their lives.

“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,” Orange County Sheriff John Mina said in a news conference.

Keith Melvin Moses, 19, is facing at least one first-degree murder charge and will have additional charges added as the investigation continues.

Deputies identified the three victims as 38-year-old Nathacha Augustin, 24-year-old Spectrum News 13 reporter Dylan Lyons and 9-year-old T’yonna Major.

Around 11 a.m., deputies rushed to a call of a shooting in the 6100 block of Hialeah Street, where Mina said they found Augustin dead from gunshot wounds.

Deputies had already cleared the scene of the morning murder and left the area when Lyons and another Spectrum News 13 journalist, Jesse Walden, were there covering the incident — the vehicle involved was towed, detectives did their canvassing of the neighborhood and deputies were out looking for Moses, according to Mina.

Then around 4 p.m., deputies were again called to two shootings — one in the same area of the morning murder and another just a block away.

Detectives learned the two men with Spectrum News 13 were gunned down by Moses, who then proceeded to enter a home a street away and fired on a mother and her child, Major. All four were taken to a local hospital.

Major and Lyons died from their injuries. Walden and the little girl’s mother were in critical condition, Mina said.

Deputies arrested Moses following the three shootings, Mina said, adding that he has not revealed to authorities his motive in the killings.

“We really don’t know what was in the mind of this suspect, and you know, hopefully at some point he’ll talk to us about what his motives were,” Mina said.

Moses is acquainted with Augustin, but it remains unclear if or how he’s connected to the news crew or the family.

‘A happy soul’ and dedicated reporter

Spectrum News 13 journalist Dylan Lyons loved anchoring and reporting the news, the TV station said in an obituary.

“He took his job very seriously. He loved his career. He loved what he did,” said Spectrum Sports 360 reporter and friend, Josh Miller. “He loved the community, telling the stories of people, reporting on the news, and he was just passionate about what he did.”

He was born and raised in Philadelphia before enrolling at the University of Central Florida where he graduated to pursue a career in news, the station wrote.

During his time in the industry, he won an award from the Florida Association of Broadcast Journalists and was a finalist for another.

Apart from work, he loved his family and girlfriend.

“Very close with his mom, too,” Miller said. “I remember on different social media posts that he would put up, how grateful and thankful he was for his mother helping him get to his point, whether it was graduating from UCF, getting into the business.”

Lyons’ older sister, Rachel, started a GoFundMe early Thursday to raise funds for her brother’s funeral service on March 10.

“He was a happy soul and wonderful person in life,” she wrote. “My brother was our baby. He was taken too early from us.”

He was a father, fiance and was turning 25 in March, the GoFundMe read.

Spectrum News 13’s parent company, Charter Communications, released a statement Wednesday night, “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.”

‘Extremely smart’ little girl

In an exclusive interview with NBC, T’yonna Major’s family described her as “the apple of her parents’ eye, she was just a true joy to them.”

Phyllis Turner, Major’s great-aunt, told the station she was an “extremely smart,” athletic child who was at the top of her class.

Turner said Major’s gymnastics coach believed she “had the ability...to go to the Olympics.”

Tokiyo Major, the 9-year-old’s father, described her as “a light to everyone that knew her” in a GoFundMe he created Thursday afternoon.

“Senseless violence has taken the life of my little girl, T’Yonna Major,” he wrote. “She was everything to us.”

Tokiyo is trying to gather funds for T’yonna’s funeral, memorial and therapy for his family.

The fundraiser has already raised nearly $3,000 of its $12,000 goal.

Washington takes notice

The shootings have garnered national attention, including in the nation’s capital, where White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Twitter Wednesday: “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.”

The next day, Jean-Pierre told the nation in a briefing that Florida Republicans aren’t taking “common sense action” to enact state-level gun safety measures.

“The people of Florida who have paid a steep price for state and congressional inaction on guns from Parkland, to Pulse Nightclub, to Pine Hills deserve better,” she said.