TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Wednesday that he has suspended Orange-Osceola State Attorney Monique Worrell, effective immediately, for “neglect of duty and incompetence.”
The announcement, made during a news conference in Tallahassee, comes days after a 28-year-old man wanted in connection with a Miami-Dade homicide shot two Orlando police officers, critically wounding them.
Daton Viel was fatally shot early Saturday morning, hours after he initially opened fire on the officers around 11 p.m. Friday.
Court records show Viel had an extensive criminal history that dates back to 2016.
According to jail records, he was previously charged with robbery, assault, battery, burglary and sexual battery on a 14-year-old girl -- all happening in Orange County in separate cases.
Local 10 News has also learned that Viel also had a criminal history out of Georgia. It includes an arson arrest in 2022.
WATCH BELOW: Full news conference held by Gov. Ron DeSantis
Local 10 News partner WKMG reported that the state attorney’s suspension also comes amid other high-profile crimes in her jurisdiction, including a fatal triple shooting in Pine Hills.
“It is my duty as governor to ensure that the laws enacted by our duly elected Legislature are followed,” DeSantis said. “The people of Central Florida deserve to have a State Attorney who will seek justice in accordance with the law instead of allowing violent criminals to roam the streets and find new victims.”
According to the governor’s office, Worrell’s “practices and policies have too often allowed violent criminals to escape the full consequences of their criminal conduct, thereby endangering the innocent civilians of Orange and Osceola counties.”
Worrell held a news conference in Orlando after the announcement of her suspension, calling it “a political hit job.”
“I am your duly-elected state attorney for the Ninth Judicial Circuit and nothing done by a weak dictator can change that. This is an outrage,” she said.
DeSantis appointed Andrew Bain, who most recently served as an Orange County judge in the 9th Judicial Circuit, as Worrell’s replacement.
“We are fortunate to have a governor committed to the rule of law and holding officials — especially those elected to protect the public — accountable for not doing the jobs they swore an oath to do,” Attorney General Ashley Moody said. “Ms. Worrell abdicated her responsibility as the circuit’s top prosecutor and her actions undermine the safety and security of our state and Floridians.”
Bain has ties to South Florida as he earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Miami. He went on to get his law degree from Florida A&M University College of Law. He previously served as Assistant State Attorney in the 9th Circuit under State Attorney Jeffrey L. Ashton.
Worrell is the second state attorney to be suspended by DeSantis.
The first was Hillsborough County’s Andrew Warren, who the governor also accused of “neglect of duty and incompetence,” after the Democratic state attorney signed statements, along with other prosecutors across the country, opposing criminal charges against abortion providers, or women seeking abortions. He also said he wouldn’t prosecute people for providing gender affirming health care, and his office’s policies didn’t charge people with some minor crimes.
In June, the Florida Supreme Court refused to reinstate Warren, ruling that he had waited too long to file a petition.
“Elected officials are being taken out of office solely for political purposes, and that should never be a thing,” Worrell said Wednesday. “There used to be a very high standard for the removal of elected officials. There used to be a standard that I would have had to be criminally prosecuted for something, ‘neglecting my duties’ -- meaning that I don’t show up for work and do my job, or that I had some sort of an illness that prevented me from doing my job.”
Broward State Attorney Harold Pryor said in a statement that “whenever possible, decisions about elected officials should be made by the voters at the ballot box.”
Other South Florida Democrats have also cried foul.
J.C. Planas, a former Republican state legislator now running as a Democratic candidate for Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections called DeSantis’ decision “extremely concerning,” especially when it comes to the separation of powers in the state.
“The governor has by definition the power, (but) I think the right and the power are two different things,” Planas said. “In law school, when you take criminal procedure, the first thing you talk about is prosecutorial discretion — this is built into the law.”
An expert, Charles Zelden, a history and political science professor at Nova Southeastern University, weighed in on the governor’s move Wednesday.
“The governor has the authority to do this. It’s in the constitution of the state of Florida,” he said. ”But is absolutely frustrating that you make a choice (as a voter) and the governor, who’s of a different party, says we don’t believe in your choice. It is, in a broad sense, undemocratic.”
VIEW BELOW: Executive order of suspension for State Attorney Monique Worrell