DeSantis’ office demands answers from Orlando area state attorney after shooting

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (FLV) – Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office sent a letter to State Attorney Monique Worrell demanding answers after an alleged shooter with a criminal history was allowed to stay on the streets prior to a shooting spree in Pine Hills last week.

Keith Melvin Moses allegedly shot five people in Pine Hills, killing three, which included a television reporter and a 9-year-old on Feb. 22.

Moses has an extensive criminal history that includes aggravated battery, assault, and grand theft. The letter details that Moses was later arrested in Orange County for possession of cannabis in 2021, but the Office of the State Attorney for the Ninth Judicial Circuit did not pursue charges.

“Tragically, despite the clear threat that Mr. Moses posed to our community, you apparently made the decision to not pursue charges against him,” Executive Office of the Governor general counsel Ryan Newman said in the letter.

“The failure of your office to hold this individual accountable for his actions – despite his extensive criminal history and gang affiliation – may have permitted this dangerous individual to remain on the street. Clearly, Mr. Moses should never have been in a position to commit those senseless crimes of last week.”

Newman said the office will determine if Moses was enabled by “gaps in our sentencing laws” or because of Worrell’s office’s “failure to properly administer justice.”

The letter requested Worrell provide by March 14 the following information:

• Copies of any and all reports, letters, summaries, statements, and emails regarding Keith
  Melvin Moses.
• Copies of any and all policies, reports, letters, summaries, statements, and emails
  regarding decisions made by your office related to Keith Melvin Moses.
• Copies of any and all reports, letters, summaries, statements, and emails regarding Keith
  Melvin Moses’s Juvenile Felony Probation.
• Copies of any and all documents relating to the juvenile record of Keith Melvin Moses.
• Any and all communications between Officer Estefano Pino (ID 7496) and the Office of
  the State Attorney for the Ninth Judicial Circuit from November 13, 2021, through
  January 18, 2022.
• Information on the number and circumstances of individuals who (1) were arrested for
  committing a felony or had violated the terms of their probation by being arrested for a
  crime, (2) had a prior criminal history, and (3) were not prosecuted by your office.

“The shocking nature of these horrific acts is difficult enough to process, but even more galling is the fact that the man who was promptly arrested for these crimes, Mr. Keith Melvin Moses (aka Keith Moses), date of birth June 11, 2003, has been allowed to remain on the streets after multiple arrests, including one your office has refused to prosecute,” the letter said.

Worrell had previously said Moses’ only adult offense was a possession of marijuana in 2021 that her office did not charge.

“So there was one adult case for 4.6 grams of marijuana that my office determined was not suitable for prosecution based on our inability to prove the nature of the substance,” Worrell said.

Worrell said why her office did not charge for Moses’ possession of 4.6 grams of marijuana at a press conference last week.

“When you have a quantity that low, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement does not test the substance, and that means the State Attorney’s Office cannot prove the case,” Worrell said.

Florida’s Voice previously reported that documents from 2021 show Moses and two other young men were seen smoking suspected marijuana in a car in Pine Hills. As deputies approached the car, a stolen firearm was thrown out of the window.

“It should be noted that all three subjects have multiple prior firearm possession charges, to include Attempted First Degree Murder and Armed Robbery with a Firearm and all had ski mask style masks on them or in the vehicle,” the arrest document said.