Latest news with #NeJameLaw
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Yahoo
Lawsuit accuses Orange deputies of failing to notify Pine Hills accused killer Moses on loose
A second lawsuit has been filed related to the 2023 killings of three people in Pine Hills, this time accusing the Orange County Sheriff's Office of 'racially discriminatory policies' after failing to notify the community accused killer Keith Moses was on the loose. The lawsuit focuses on killings hours after investigators said Moses shot 38-year-old Natacha Augustin as he sat behind her in the backseat of his cousin's car. According to the 36-page complaint filed Monday in federal court, deputies didn't issue an alert about Moses while an unnamed deputy at the scene — identified in the filing as 'Deputy John Doe' — waved off Brandi Major's concerns before she and 9-year-old daughter T'Yonna were shot in their home. T'Yonna was killed and Moses went on to fatally shoot Spectrum News 13 reporter Dylan Lyons, 24, as he sat in a news van, the lawsuit said. The complaint was brought on behalf of T'Yonna and Brandi Major, who survived, as well as Lyons' estate. Augustin is not a party to the lawsuit, as she was Moses' first victim. Though the lawsuit mentions agency policies it argues discriminate against Pine Hills' mostly-Black population, none were specifically cited. Rather, lawyers at NeJame Law, which represents Major's and Lyons' families, told reporters Tuesday that existing policies about alerting the community of criminal activity are unequally applied in what legal partner Ryan Vescio called a 'policy of complacency.' 'Crime is acceptable nowhere, so in a situation like this we do believe there is a demonstration of acceptance that these things are going to happen and the citizens of Pine Hills are just going to have to deal with it,' Vescio said. 'Although, if this were another neighborhood that Mark [NeJame] lives in or I would live in, then everybody would know as soon as it happened. That's just wrong.' In a statement, a sheriff's office spokesperson called the claims in the lawsuit 'unfounded' and the agency's legal team will seek a motion to dismiss the case. It added: 'Keith Moses is the only person responsible for the heinous acts of violence that took the lives of three of our residents and gravely injured two others. We grieve those losses along with our community.' Kissimmee considers 9 candidates — including retired OPD chief — to lead scandal-tainted police department Moses faces the death penalty after being charged with the murders of Augustin, T'Yonna and Lyons — which took place within a mile of each other around Harrington Drive and Hialeah Street. Reports released in that case show deputies cleared the scene hours after Augustin was killed. Moses, however, remained in the area and entered the Majors' house through an open back door and shot T'Yonna and Brandi Major several times before leaving. Lyons was parked outside near the home and was shot while working. Moses also injured Jesse Walden, the cameraman who accompanied Lyons, the suit said. Walden has not been party to any lawsuits regarding the shootings. According to the lawsuit, Moses was identified by the sheriff's office through his cousin, who was driving when Augustin was shot in the passenger seat, but the agency did not release his name or issue a description as they looked for him. The complaint further alleges nearby residents weren't notified of the situation while an unnamed deputy told Brandi Major 'everything is under control' when she asked about law enforcement's activity in the area. 'We expect better,' NeJame said. 'A 9-year-old little girl was killed because the sheriff's office waved a mother in with her daughter and didn't tell them that there was a murderer on the loose and had been on the loose and had killed somebody earlier.' The lawsuit against OCSO is the second one related to the killings. The first accused Spectrum News 13, an Orlando Sentinel news partner, of failing to provide proper safety equipment or conducting 'an appropriate risk assessment' before sending Lyons to Pine Hills, where he was assigned to cover the shooting that killed Augustin. That complaint raises questions of the obligations news organizations have to keep their reporters safe in the field. It's also an unusual one — incidents documented by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, which monitors attacks on reporters and news outlets, show nearly all of the 322 instances of reporters shot on duty in the last 10 years were by law enforcement, and only 25 of them resulted in lawsuits. Of those lawsuits, just one was against a news organization: The Capital Gazette and the Baltimore Sun, which settled in 2023 after they were accused of wrongful death and negligence for the 2018 newsroom massacre that killed five people on staff. A statement from Spectrum News denied the claims in the lawsuit brought by Lyons' family, calling his death 'an unforeseeable and horrible tragedy.'
Miami Herald
11-02-2025
- Miami Herald
OnlyFans model barred from volunteering at son's school, Florida suit says. Ban upheld
A mom was banned from volunteering at her son's school when her OnlyFans account came to light, and she sued the Florida school district. A judge has now sided with Orange County Public Schools against Victoria Triece. In response to the judge's ruling, the Orlando mom took to Instagram on Feb. 10 to share that she 'didn't lose because it's not over.' McClatchy News reached out to Triece's representation, NeJame Law, for comment Feb. 11 and did not immediately receive a response. Orange County Public Schools declined to comment on the case, citing the possibility of continuing litigation. 'Victoria Triece filed the lawsuit not only for herself but also for others in similar situations who may face discrimination for their means of livelihood,' NeJame Law wrote in a news release in 2023. 'She strongly believes that individuals should not judge others for their private choices.' Triece was both a 'room mom' volunteer in her son's elementary school classroom and an OnlyFans model, which an anonymous parent took issue with, according to the lawsuit filed in Orange County in January 2023. During summer break in 2021, the anonymous parent emailed the school principal photos from Triece's sexually explicit OnlyFans account, expressing concern about Triece being around other children, according to court filings. In response, the principal reached out to the district's superintendent and legal counsel on how to move forward, according to the judge's ruling. They came to the conclusion that the mom of two couldn't volunteer any longer, prompting Triece to pursue legal action. She sought damages and wanted to be reinstated as a volunteer, saying her own mom was a parent volunteer when she was a student, the Miami Herald previously reported. 'My mother did it for me, and having her there was the best joy growing up,' she said. Triece argued that according to school policy, she could only be dismissed from the volunteer program for having a criminal record, which she didn't have. She said the school lacked the power to remove her for other reasons and violated her due process and appellate rights for doing so. After nearly a year of litigation, the judge saw it differently, saying no one is entitled to the right to volunteer at a school. 'That policy … does not include any language that confers any right or benefit upon an individual to participate in the (volunteer) program, to remain in the program or to appeal a removal decision,' Circuit Judge Brian Sandor wrote Jan. 29. Once the principal told Triece she could no longer volunteer, the mom hosted a news conference with NeJame Law about the situation, and afterward, a media outlet submitted a public records request to the district for emails related to Triece, documents show. The school district complied and sent over the related emails, including the photos of Triece, according to case filings. Triece accused the school of sending her explicit photos to 'staff and employees that were not in need of the information in an effort to demean and belittle' her, violating her right to privacy. But the judge said the public school employees disseminated those images during their official business, and the district was also under a 'constitutional and statutory obligation' to fulfill the public records request. The judge ruled her images weren't exempt from disclosure. Triece honed in on that part of the judge's ruling in her response on Instagram. 'Can someone please tell me when it became necessary for ANYONE to have to send X photos of someone for another person to say that it is acceptable because of a request from the media,' she posted. 'That is not a request you say yes to … it is terrible to any human no matter what they do.'
