Mentally Ill Man With Legal Gun Murders 7-Year-Old At Soccer Game, Commits Suicide

On Thursday, a paranoid, mentally ill man shot and killed a 7-year-old girl at her soccer game in Michigan. The shooter is someone that was thought of as a family friend. According to reports, prior to committing the murder, the man was muttering that someone was “out to get him” and trying to use “mind control” on him.

Little Emma Watson Nowling was so familiar with the man who ended up taking her life that, during her soccer game on Thursday, she had actually taken a break from the match to give the man a hug. Timothy Nelson Obeshaw kept to the sidelines as the game was going on, but once the game was over and Emma and her mother, 37-year-old Sharon Elizabeth Watson, were in the parking lot and about to leave, Obeshaw seemed to have snapped and aimed his legally-owned gun at the departing truck. The parking lot of the Taylor Sportsplex was soon the scene of a grisly crime as the man fired several bullets into the car.

Man who killed girl, shot mom in murder-suicide spoke of mind control, reports @FOX2Hannah https://t.co/IBnvQKNksa pic.twitter.com/vpUqGTPUkn

— FOX 2 Detroit (@FOX2News) December 5, 2015

Emma Nowling was killed by a bullet to her head, while her mother, Sharon, suffered serious injuries. According to Taylor police officers, the paranoiac then turned his 9mm gun on himself and committed suicide. Watson was rushed to a local hospital and was reported as being in serious condition at the time, though she is no longer critical.

Police Chief Mary Sclabassi released a statement regarding the difficulty the officers had responding to a crime involving the death of children. Occupy Democrats reported on the incident and cited that it seems that not a day goes by that the United States does not suffer the consequences of the nation’s obsession with guns. In the way that many Republicans have of saying guns don’t kill people, (people kill people), the police chief made statement that someone should have helped Timothy Obeshaw with his mental illness.

“He thought someone was out to get him. Unfortunately, it appears as a result of his (instability) we now have a little girl who simply just wanted to go yesterday to play soccer, and never went home. Obviously if the persons close to this individual (Obeshaw) had perhaps taken the steps to make sure that he got the help he needed, he may not have been in the position to obtain the firearms that he had yesterday.”

The police believe that the mental issues that 57-year-old Timothy Obeshaw suffered from are what led to his murdering Emma Nowling and committing suicide. The man arrived at the soccer game around 6:30 p.m. and eyewitnesses say that he seemed perfectly fine at the time. It was not the first time that the family friend had attended a soccer game for the 7-year-old. However, once the game was over his demeanor changed and by the time the family was about to leave around 8:00 p.m., the mentally ill man had become very unhinged.

The mentally ill Thomas managed to kill himself and Emma with his valid concealed-carry permit (CPL) and accompanying legal gun. Reportedly, Obeshaw had registered the 9mm handgun in his name September in Belleville. Police state that they did manage to recover the gun at the crime scene. There were about 40 children present at the soccer game in the Taylor Sportsplex.

According to the Detroit Free Press, Obeshaw’s family members told police that the man was mentally unstable. The mentally ill man used to actually live with Watson and her boyfriend at their home in Belleville, and only recently moved to a home in Taylor. The police have thus far not been able to identify a motive for the murder-suicide that happened on Thursday.

The family is asking for assistance raising funds to bury the slain 7-year-old. You can donate to the Emma Watson Nowling GoFundMe account by clicking here.

[Image via Taylor Police Department]