Monique Worrell's high-profile cases: Family members of victims respond to her ousting by Gov. Desantis
Crime victims on Monique Worrell's ousting
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis suspended State Attorney Monique Worrell of the Ninth Judicial Court Wednesday morning for neglect of duty. He suspended her via executive order. Now family members of victims in high-profile cases that came before Worrell's office are now responding to news of her ousting.
ORLANDO, Fla. - There is a mixed reaction regarding the suspension of State Attorney Monique Worrell, but the mothers of two different victims said they are happy she has been removed from office by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
"These people are putting citizens at harm, being more worried about the criminals than they are the victims, the families. I’m happy this happened," said Julia Knight, whose son William "Steven" Knight was murdered back in 2020 on the Florida Turnpike.
She said she has been waiting years for justice. "I don’t want our city to start looking like other cities where the criminals have more value than the victims," she added.
Back in January, Amazon delivery driver Louis Rodriguez was robbed by two suspects who had long criminal histories, yet were out of jail. Worrell blamed the juvenile system, but the victim said, "That’s a little too much for someone to be coming out even after a twentieth conviction." When asked about Worrell’s suspension, Rodriguez told us, "It’s good that someone noticed she was doing something wrong., and now someone will pay attention to what’s going on in the community and make it safer."
"Taking an elected politician out of office, against the will of the people – that’s wrong; it’s frightening," said Orlando attorney Mark NeJame, who represents the families of three victims who were shot and killed in Pine Hills.
NeJame said the governor is playing politics and is against removing Worrell, adding, "She was seeking the death penalty. She was strongly prosecuting the perpetrator. Now this turns not only this case but so many other cases upside down."
"Our stand is, I guess different than Mark's," said Beth Lyons, mother of Dylan Lyons, who added she is also glad Worrell was suspended. "Happy in the sense that the state attorney; she was not fair when she came to the decision for my son."
While Worrell said she planned on seeking the death penalty for the accused Pine Hills shooter, Lyons said she was doing it for the 9-year-old child that died, not her son. "I felt as his mother it was a slap in the face because she was the tiebreaker, she went against the death penalty for Dylan but not the child," she added.