Ron DeSantis exceeded his authority when he removed a Democratic prosecutor from her elected office after a teenager fatally shot a girl and a news reporter, her attorney told the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

The state constitution only allows for the suspension of an elected official for egregious misconduct, and Monique Worrell was simply doing her job as she sees fit — not anything illegal or negligent — when DeSantis suspended her, said her lawyer, Laura Ferguson.

Statistics show that Orlando and the surrounding area were grossly underperforming compared with other prosecutorial districts in the state, lawyer Jeffrey DeSousa said.

DeSantis’ office began investigating Worrell earlier this year after 19-year-old Keith Moses was charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of Spectrum News 13 reporter Dylan Lyons, Nathacha Augustin and 9-year-old T’yonna Major.

Shortly after the shooting, DeSantis’ general counsel said in a letter to Worrell that she had previously failed to hold Moses accountable for crimes he allegedly committed before the deaths.

DeSantis last year removed State Attorney Andrew Warren, a twice-elected Democrat in Tampa, after he pledged not to pursue criminal charges against seekers or providers of abortion or gender-transition treatments.

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