Florida journalist and 9-year-old girl shot to death in Orlando, suspect in custody

Two journalists from Spectrum News 13 were shot inside their vehicle in Orlando before the gunmen fled to a home about a block away, and shot a 9-year-old girl and her mother, killing the girl and wounding the mother. The journalists were  reporting on a murder. The house was about a block away from the vehicle.

According to the Orange County Sheriff's Office, the 19-year-old suspect, identified as Keith Melvin Moses, has been arrested for the murder of the journalist, the girl, and the murder of the woman the journalists were reporting on. It is unclear why the gunman targeted the house, as no connection between the gunman and the victims was known. The names of the victims have not been released.



At approximately 11 am Wednesday morning, Orange County deputies responded to reports of a shooting on Hileah Street in the Pine Hills neighborhood and found a woman in her 20s who had been shot, and died at the scene.

Sheriff John Mina said during a press conference Wednesday afternoon that a Spectrum News 13 crew, who were covering the Wednesday morning shooting of a 20-year-old woman, were shot inside their vehicle.

Both of the men were taken to the hospital, where one died, and the other remains in critical condition. 

The sheriff added that after shooting at the News 13 car, Moses allegedly went to a nearby house and shot a 9-year-old girl and her mother. The child died at the hospital where her mom remains in critical condition. 

"We have detained the person believed to be responsible for the murder this morning as well as the shooting this afternoon. He is being formally charged in the murder from this morning and we expect additional charges for the shooting of the four people this afternoon," Mina said.

Mina continued, "I want to acknowledge what a horrible day this has been for our community and our media partners. 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.”

Spectrum News said in a statement, "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."

According to authorities, Moses has a "lengthy criminal history" ranging from gun charges, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, assault with a deadly weapon, burglary, and grand theft.

Mina added that Moses was an acquaintance of the woman killed this morning, but has no known connections to the mother, 9-year-old, or the news crew. Mina stated, "It's unclear why exactly they were targeted. And, you know, certainly, we're going to look into that.”