ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – An Orange County sheriff’s deputy has received a written reprimand for a comment he made after arresting a suspected murderer.
Deputy Taylor Atlee’s body-worn camera was recording on Feb. 22 when he and other deputies tackled and arrested 19-year-old Keith Moses in a Pine Hills neighborhood.
Moses was wanted in connection to a string of shootings in the Pine Hills area that day, which killed three people and wounded two others.
Investigators said Nathacha Augustin was found shot on Hialeah Street that day.
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A few hours later, deputies said Moses shot 9-year-old T’yonna Major and her mother, Brandi Major, at their home on Harrington Drive, then returned to Hialeah Street and shot Spectrum News Reporter Dylan Lyons and photographer Jesse Walden.
Walden and Brandi Major survived.
In April, News 6 obtained unredacted body camera video that showed part of the law enforcement response that day.
In one of the clips showing the moments after Moses’ capture, a first responder can be heard saying, “That little girl, man, if she doesn’t make it... The other guy is with the news people.”
A deputy, later identified as Atlee, is then heard responding, “They should just let us take him out back and kill him.”
News 6 learned an internal investigation had started at the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, but no one would confirm what the investigation was looking into.
On Thursday, News 6 obtained the results of an administrative investigation that showed they were looking into the comment Atlee was heard saying on the body camera video.
According to the final report, an assistant state attorney who was reviewing the body camera footage first brought the comments to the attention of the sheriff’s office.
The report reads, “he did not believe Sheriff Mina would approve of this comment, and believed it was ‘something that should not have been said.’”
An OCSO sergeant told investigators he “later heard, via rumors, Deputy Atlee said something similar to that.”
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Another sergeant said, “that’s not good.” He told his chain of command about the incident because “he knew how that could affect a homicide case.”
For his part, Atlee reportedly “allowed his ‘emotions’ to get the best of him and wished he had not made that comment.”
“He recalled being full of adrenaline,” the report reads, “and recalled it being ‘an emotional day.’”
“Deputy Atlee believed the comment he made reflected poorly on him,” the report reads, “as he holds himself to a very high standard. If Deputy Atlee had to do this again, he would not make a comment like that.”
The investigators sustained the complaint against Atlee, prompting a written reprimand for unsatisfactory performance.
News 6 contacted Sheriff Mina for a statement on the results of the investigation and a spokesperson said he had no comment.
Moses is facing a possible death sentence as his murder case continues in court.
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