Casey Lynn Lyons has welcomed a son through surrogacy three years after her fiancé Dylan Lyons, an Orlando television journalist and UCF alumni, was killed while reporting on assignment. The baby, named Dylan after his father, was born March 19 weighing 7 pounds, 10 ounces, PEOPLE reports.
Dylan Lyons, a 24-year-old Spectrum News 13 reporter, was killed in February 2023 during a string of shootings in Pine Hills. Keith Moses, the alleged gunman, was arrested and charged. A lawsuit filed by Dylan’s family against his news station was dismissed in April, according to PEOPLE.
Casey used posthumous sperm retrieval to conceive their child, a dream the couple had discussed before his death. The process required collecting genetic material within 24 to 36 hours after death and navigating an investigation that delayed the retrieval.
“In the Jewish religion, when someone passes away, you name your children after them, whether it’s a first name or middle name,” Casey told PEOPLE. “I felt like giving our son his name was the most beautiful way to honor his memory.”
The couple met in 2020 at ABC affiliate WCJB in Gainesville, Florida, where Casey worked as a producer and Dylan as an on-air reporter, the outlet noted. They began dating in late 2021 after a trip to St. Augustine. The couple had planned to start a family after Casey’s conversion to Judaism was complete, as it was important to Dylan that their children be raised in his faith.
“When I found out the man I was so deeply in love with and was building a life with was murdered, [it] was something I’ll never forget,” Casey said. She changed her last name to Lyons in 2023.
The path to parenthood proved challenging. Casey found a surrogate match within three months but endured five egg retrievals to create viable embryos and two failed transfers before learning of a successful pregnancy on July 18, 2025.
“There were days I would cry because I wasn’t sure if I would ever become a mom,” she said.
Casey now lives with Dylan’s parents, who became her support system after the shooting. She says Dylan’s father made a promise to his son to care for her if anything happened.
The new mother plans to talk with her son about his father as he grows up.
“This is what we always wanted together,” Casey said. “However, Dylan is very much alive in my heart and now in our son’s heart as well. He will always be with us.”
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