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Dylan Colby Lyons (March 11, 1998 – February 22, 2023) was an American television news reporter for Spectrum News 13 in Orlando, Florida. He was fatally shot while reporting from the scene of a homicide in a Pine Hills neighborhood.

Early life and career

Lyons was born March 11, 1998, in Meadowbrook, Pennsylvania. A graduate of the University of Central Florida with degrees in journalism and political science, Lyons reported and anchored for the UCF Knightly News. He reported and anchored for WCJB, an ABC affiliate in Gainesville.

Killing

On February 22, 2023, Lyons was part of a news crew reporting from Pine Hills in Orange County on the fatal shooting of Nathacha Augustin that had happened earlier in the day. 19-year-old Keith Melvin Moses (born June 11, 2003), the suspect in the prior shooting and an Orlando native, returned to the crime scene and shot Lyons and Spectrum News photographer Jesse Walden, then went to a nearby home and shot Brandi Major and her 9-year-old daughter, T'Yonna Major. Police later arrested Moses, who had been an acquaintance of Augustin. Lyons and T'Yonna Major died, while Brandi Major and Walden were critically injured but survived. Moses had a criminal record dating back to 2018 but was never imprisoned as he was a minor at the time.

In addition to his immediate family, Lyons left behind a fiancé, Casey Lynn. A GoFundMe page was set up by the Orlando community and Dylan's sister Rachel to cover the funeral expenses of Lyons and Major.

The killing of Dylan Lyons was condemned by the Director-General of UNESCO Audrey Azoulay in a press-release published on March 1, 2023. UNESCO’s mandate to “promote the free flow of ideas by word and image” includes the protection of journalists and media workers against any forms of attacks and reprisals related to their duties. The facts and circumstances surrounding this killing are categorized and archived online on UNESCO’s Observatory of Killed Journalists. The Observatory archives publicly accessible information on all the journalists killed in relation to their duties since 1997, where the Director-General has issued a condemnation.

References

1. "Obituary – Dylan Lyons". Heritage Florida Jewish News. March 10, 2023. Retrieved November 7, 2024.
2. ^ Fischer, David; Frisaro, Freida (February 22, 2023). "TV journalist from Philly among those killed in Orlando shooting". WHYY.org. Associated Press. Archived from the original on February 23, 2023. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
3. ^ Da Silva, Chantal; Burke, Minyvonne; Siemaszko, Corky (February 23, 2023). "TV journalist killed while reporting on Florida shooting". NBC News. Archived from the original on February 24, 2023. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
4. Silva, Daniella; Wile, Rob (February 23, 2023). "Florida family remembers 9-year-old who was fatally shot as 'amazing gymnast' and 'a true joy'". NBC News. Archived from the original on February 28, 2023. Retrieved March 1, 2023.
5. Heisel, Phil (February 23, 2023). "'He kept shooting at me,' photographer wounded in Florida shooting says". NBC News. Archived from the original on February 24, 2023. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
6. Talcott, Anthony (February 22, 2023). "Here's what we know about the suspect in the deadly Pine Hills shootings". WKMG-TV. Archived from the original on February 25, 2023. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
7. Treisman, Rachel (February 22, 2023). "Dylan Lyons, a 24-year-old TV journalist, was killed while reporting on a shooting". WSIU. Archived from the original on February 23, 2023. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
8. "Director-General condemns killing of broadcast journalist Dylan Lyons in the United States of America". UNESCO. March 1, 2023. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
9. "Communication and Information service of the UNESCO details". Retrieved June 12, 2023.
10. "Safety of journalist". Retrieved June 13, 2023.
11. "Observatory of killed journalists of the UNESCO". Retrieved June 13, 2023.

• 2023 deaths
• Deaths by firearm in Florida
• February 2023 crimes in the United States
• Murdered American journalists
• People from Orlando, Florida
• University of Central Florida alumni