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A 7-year-old girl is dead. and her mom badly wounded after being shot outside the Taylor Sportsplex Thursday.
The man who pulled the trigger killing Emma Watson Nowling and wounding her mom Sharon Watson, then took his own life. Emma was shot after soccer practice as she and Watson, 37, were ambushed by 57-year-old Timothy Nelson Obeshaw.
Investigators say Obeshaw shot the mom and daughter then shot and killed himself.
"We have a little girl who just wanted to play soccer and never went home," said Chief Mary Sclabassi. "Obeshaw had been seen at the beginning of practice embracing the young girl, and she was embracing him back as though there was no problem."
Mental illness played a factor in the shooting, police said.
"We found evidence that Obeshaw believed that someone was trying to control him through mind control," Sclabassi said.
But police have no evidence that Obeshaw was ever diagnosed or ever treated for a mental disorder. He legally bought a 9mm handgun in September and police say he used that gun for the murder suicide outside the Taylor Sportsplex.
John McElreath was Tim Obeshaw's next door neighbor in Van Buren Township. He said Obeshaw sold his house but Sharon Watson, Emma's mother, allowed the family friend to live In the detached garage behind the house.
"I am just shocked," McElreath said. "He never talked to me. He didn't say anything to me, I didn't say anything to him."
A couple of months ago McElreath said Tim Obeshaw moved to Taylor and moved in with his ex-wife. This next door neighbor in Taylor on Rosewood Street, confirms Obeshaw lived beside her with his ex.
His neighbor in Taylor said that she disagreed that he was mentally unstable.
"That man was fine," "Something just happened all at once, that's all I can say. He was a great guy."
The mother, Sharon Watson's condition is improving as she continues to recover in the hospital.
Sharon and Emma are both related to Bill Nowling, the spokesperson for former Detroit EM Kevyn Orr.
Nowling posted on Facebook: If you are a praying person, the Nowling and Watson families could use some today. Our nephew, Shane and his family are shattered. Our hearts break with them."