The 9-year-old Florida girl killed in a shooting rampage Wednesday was remembered by her devastated family as an excellent student, “amazing gymnast” and “true joy” whose life was cut short by “senseless violence.”
T’yonna Major, 9, was killed and her mom, Brandi Major, was wounded, allegedly by Keith Moses, 19, after he opened fire on a Spectrum 13 news crew, authorities said.
The journalists were covering an earlier murder in Orlando’s Pine Hills neighborhood, where Moses allegedly shot and killed a 38-year-old acquaintance named Nathacha Augustin.
Reporter Dylan Lyons, 24, was killed and photographer Jesse Walden was injured, authorities said.
Phyllis Turner, T’yonna’s maternal great-aunt, told NBC News that the tragic girl was “the apple of her parents’ eye — she was just a true joy to them.”
She said T’yonna was an “extremely smart” student at Pine Hills Elementary School who was at the top of her class and also “an amazing gymnast.”
Her coach wanted to “really take her under her wing” because she believed she had the potential to compete in college and even “go to the Olympics,” Turner told the outlet.
“She was a perfectionist. She didn’t like second and third place,” Turner said. “She just believed in excelling in everything she did.”
She said T’yonna also was a “funny little girl” who “brought so much joy and laughter to everybody,” adding that her parents are “absolutely devastated” by the incomprehensible loss.
Turner said Brandi was shot in the arm and has been released from the hospital.
Dad Tokiyo Major wrote in a GoFundMe post that T’yonna was “a light to everyone that knew her,” adding, “She was everything to us. Senseless violence has taken the life of my little girl.”
Neighbor Thermon Patterson, 66, told NBC News that he saw Major rush out into the street crying for help after T’yonna was shot.
He said he didn’t see the gunman but felt he could have easily been targeted because he often sits outside his nearby home.
“I’m glad he’s off the street,” Patterson said about Moses.
Pine Hills Elementary School Principal Latonya Smothers said T’yonna was a “kind and beautiful young girl with an infectious smile. She will be missed dearly.”
She added in the message: “I know I speak for our entire Pine Hills community when I express the grief that we feel at the loss of one of our own.”
Moses was charged with second-degree murder related to Augustin’s death, but additional charges are expected.
Authorities have not yet identified a motive for the shooting spree.
“Because Moses is not speaking to us, we’re unable to determine a motive at this time. It is unclear why he shot the first victim. It’s unclear why he targeted folks in the news media, and it’s unclear why he shot a 9-year-old and her mother,” Orange County Sheriff John Mina said, WESH reported.
Mina said there was no information on whether Moses knew that journalist were members of the news media, adding that it was possible he mistook them for law enforcement, according to ClickOrlando.com.
The sheriff added that Moses was an acquaintance of Augustin and that witness said the suspect “seemed down” before the shooting.
He said investigators are also still trying to find out if there was a connection between Moses and the mother and child who were shot.
He said deputies recovered a semiautomatic Glock 40 handgun from the combative man’s pants when they arrested him.
“That gun was still hot to the touch, meaning it had just been fired,” Mina said.
Moses has a lengthy criminal record that includes arrests for grand theft, battery-domestic violence and armed robbery, he said.
But State Attorney Monique Worrell said he had a single arrest since becoming an adult, a 2021 marijuana possession charge that was later dropped.
“Florida law prohibits me from discussing the details of any juvenile disposition,” she said.
The sheriff said Moses is a known gang member, but investigators don’t believe the rampage was gang-related.
