LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (WFLA) – During a press conference on Monday, Governor Ron DeSantis addressed a string of shootings in Orlando that ultimately left three people dead, including a reporter and a 9-year-old girl.
“I can’t believe they let this guy…you have to hold people accountable,” DeSantis said.
“I know the district attorney, state attorney, in Orlando thinks you don’t prosecute people, and that’s how you somehow have a better community, that does not work. You have these people with multiple arrests, multiple times where they can be held accountable, you keep cycling them out into the community, you are increasing the chances that something bad will happen.”
“This was obviously horrific beyond belief,” he continued. “There are criminals committing serious crimes, maybe not at that level, but other serious crimes that don’t get as much news, and that happens.”
“When I see police officers who’ve been gunned down, and you look at the guy who did it, and he’s got a long rap sheet, and people have just been passing the buck,” he said.
DeSantis added that he’s working to ensure judges hold people accountable with a new crime package.
“You can’t release them without bail,” DeSantis said. “Just cycling them back out on the street is a huge problem. These prosecutors need to take this seriously.”
On Feb. 22, officials connected 19-year-old Keith Moses to a series of shootings that occurred in Orange County over the course of several hours.
Deputies were first dispatched to Hialeah Street around 11 a.m., where they found 38-year-old Natacha Augustin suffering from a gunshot wound. Augustin later died as a result of her injuries.
After investigators left the scene, a crew from Spectrum News 13 parked outside the home where the shooting took place.
Orange County Sheriff John Mina said Moses walked up to the news van and shot 24-year-old reporter Dylan Lyons and photojournalist Jesse Walden. Lyons later died at a regional hospital in Orange County.
Shortly after, Mina stated that Moses walked to a home on Harrington Drive where he shot and killed a 9-year-old girl and injured her mother. The mother was rushed to the hospital in critical condition.