The fiancée of a broadcast journalist killed while reporting on a shooting has paid tribute to “the love of her life.”
Spectrum News reporter Dylan Lyons, 24, was fatally shot on Wednesday night when a gunman returned to the scene of the shooting in the Orlando neighbourhood of Pine Hills. His cameraman Jesse Walden also sustained critical injuries during the shooting.
The suspect then entered a nearby house and shot a mother and daughter, killing the nine-year-old and leaving the parent injured. Keith Melvin Moses, 19, has since been arrested and charged with murder.
In the aftermath of the tragedy, tributes have poured in for the slain journalist, who had started working at Spectrum News last July. Sharing a GoFundMe created to raise funds for his funeral, Mr Lyons’s fiancée Casey Lynn called him “the love of [her] life.”
“The love of my life was murdered. I will never be the same person ever again. Please help my family and [me] during this time,” she wrote.
In the description of the fundraiser, Mr Lyons’ sister described him as a happy soul who was taken too early from his loved ones.
“He was an acting father to his niece and nephew who he loved so much. He loved his [fiancée] and was a devoted son to his mother and father,” Rachel Lyons wrote. “Dylan would have been 25 years old in March ... my brother was our baby.”
Mr Lyon’s killing has rocked the local journalism community in Florida, with colleagues, classmates and mentors sharing their shock and grief.
Celeste Springer, a colleague of Lyons, bravely spoke on air just hours after the tragedy and said: “This is extremely devastating for all of us. But I am proud to have such an amazing team backing all of us. Please, please say a prayer tonight for our co-worker who is in critical condition. And while you’re at it, please say a prayer for every victim of gun violence.”
Mr Lyons’s journalism professor Rick Brunson rushed to the hospital where Mr Lyons was initially taken, before taking to Facebook to remember him as a leader who “lit up the classroom with his smile, his energy, his enthusiasm [and] passion.”
“He cared, deeply, about doing journalism the right way. We are shattered to lose him when so much life was ahead of him. He was a proud Knight,” Mr Brunson wrote in a post. “A great friend. I am deeply crushed for his family and his fiancée, as well of the families of the other two precious lives lost in this heinous crime.”
Former classmates at the University of Central Florida (UFC) also described Mr Lyons as “one hell of a journalist.” Outside the UCF Nicholson School of Communication and Media, a memorial has already been built.
Spectrum News issued a statement that read: “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.”
In a moving tribute to Lyons, his Spectrum News colleagues explained that he had been born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but had moved to the Sunshine State to study at the University of Central Florida, beginning his media career in Gainesville after graduating.
“He took his job very seriously,” remembered his friend Josh Miller, a sports reporter with the network.
“He loved his career. He loved what he did. He loved the community, telling the stories of people, reporting on the news, and he was just passionate about what he did. When he was out of the news station, he was still talking about how much he wanted to succeed at his job, talking about how much he loved Orlando.”
Dylan Lyons had already received an award from the Florida Association of Broadcast Journalists and been a finalist for another, his obituary says.
