The parents of a place Television journalist who received a mortal shot While they report on a murder in Florida Central in 2023, they have filed a negligence lawsuit against the former employer of his son, claiming that the media company did not do enough to protect him.
Spectrum News 13 Parents Reporter Dylan Lyons He filed the claim on Tuesday at the State Court in Orlando. He looks for monetary damage against Charter Communications, the Spectrum parent company, on behalf of the journalist’s heritage.
Demand, Obtained by CBS WKMG-TV affiliateHe said that Lyons was not given any security or protection team even though he was in a crime scene where a woman had shot and the suspect was still free.
Spectrum said in an email on Wednesday that the claims were unfounded and that he would seek to be dismissed.
“Dylan’s murder was an unpredictable and horrible tragedy,” said Spectrum. “Regarding these specific accusations, Dylan was the victim of an act of meaningless violence.”
Lyons and the cameraman Jesse Walden were covering the murder of a woman when the suspect approached and shot them. Lyons was killed and Walden was injured. Only a few minutes before, the suspect had entered a nearby house and fatally shot a 9 -year -old girl and injured her mother, authorities said.
WKMG-TV
The suspect, Keith Moses, was later accused of murder for the death of Lyons, the woman and the girl. He declared himself innocent.
Although Spectrum requires that its reporters and cameramen go to high crime areas, the company does not provide personal protection measures or security personnel, according to the demand.
“Journalists face a growing threat of violence due to their work,” said the demand.
Lyons, who was born and grew up in the Philadelphia areaInternship at WKMG-TV while attending the University of Florida Central before starting their journalism career in Gainesville, According to the station.
“Dylan wanted so much transmission journalist,” WKMG reporter Erik Sandoval said. “He was excited for his future, and we were excited by him. When I saw him last year in a prize delivery ceremony (where he won), I gave him a big hug. Dylan had talent. Dylan was an electric. Dylan had a future”
John Raoux / AP
Bruce Shapiro, who edited a 2017 report on the security training of journalists, said in an email on Wednesday that it was “undeniable” that local reports have become more dangerous in the United States.
“Not only the reporters of the crime but the investigative journalists, the local political reporter, even the television meteorologists have suffered unprecedented violent abuse, harassment and attacks,” said Shapiro, executive director of the Dart Center for journalism and trauma in The Columbia School of Journalism.
The 2017 report focused on war and crisis reporters, but since then, “there has been a much broader recognition of the care duty of local writing rooms for staff safety, but there is little consensus on how it looks like “, said.
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