WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Rick Scott released the below statement following reports that the individual behind the deadly shootings in Pine Hills that killed three Floridians, including a nine-year-old child and a TV reporter, had a long and dangerous criminal history.

Senator Rick Scott said, “This week, a woman, a nine-year-old little girl and a bright, young news reporter were heinously murdered in Pine Hills by a vile criminal that never should have been on our streets. These innocent Floridians were the victims of past justice denied and a leftist, soft-on-crime approach that is spreading like cancer through America's criminal justice system and taking countless innocent lives along the way. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. Every prosecutor that chose to give this young criminal a pass should be fired TODAY, and State Attorney Worrell must immediately account for how her office failed to protect the community from a violent criminal and outline what she's changing to ensure it doesn't happen again. 

"Some will say this is a horrible outlier in a system designed to give second chances. Tell that to the families of the three slain Floridians that will never get a second chance at spending time with their loved ones. In Florida, we believe in law and order, and any member of the criminal justice system that doesn't shouldn't keep their job. I urge state officials to look at every option available to force accountability on this office."

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