ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — There are still unanswered questions about why a 19-year-old shot five people in Pine Hills, injuring two and killing three others.
T’Yonna Major, 9, Spectrum News 13 reporter Dylan Lyons, 24, and Nathacha Augustin died in a mass shooting Wednesday.
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Family members, mentors and strangers are left in tears as they share memories of the three lives lost too soon.
“I want them to know what a loving and giving person she is,” said Rose Wright, Augustin’s sister.
Wright described Augustin as a person who checked on her family often and cherished being an aunt to her daughter.
“It’s an indescribable pain to lose a loved one in this way,” she said.
Sister of woman killed in Pine Hills mass shooting shares ‘indescribable pain’
Deputies said Augustin’s suspected killer, Keith Moses, returned to the scene of the crime hours later and shot a news reporter and photographer covering the homicide.
Investigators said he then entered a house and turned his gun on a mother and daughter.
The daughter, T’Yonna Major, was a student at Pine Hills Elementary. She loved gymnastics and spending time with her friends.
Students and staff blew bubbles and threw colorful balloons into the air at a school vigil Friday. Children dressed in red formed a heart shape you could see from above.
“Mom is heartbroken,” Bishop Kelvin Cobaris said. “And of course, as you know, she’s trying to put her mind around this and move forward.”
T’Yonna’s mother is now out of the hospital.
‘A kind & beautiful soul’: Girl, 9, killed in Pine Hills shooting remembered for ‘infectious smile’
Photojournalist Jesse Walden is still recovering in the hospital and described Lyons as a person who was passionate about public service while also having a great sense of humor.
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Lyons’ former professor Rick Brunson echoed that sentiment at a candlelight vigil at the University of Central Florida. He said Lyons made an impact on the journalism community.
“He was here for a good number of years, and you knew him,” Brunson said. “He had that personality.”
‘He loves journalism’: UCF professor shares legacy of reporter killed in Pine Hills mass shooting
Multiple communities connected to the victims who are reeling in the aftermath would also like to see justice from all of this.
“It’s hard at this moment to talke about what that looks like,” Wright said.
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