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Police: Michigan man hugs little girl at soccer practice, then kills her

By Cox Media Group National Content Desk
Dec 7, 2015

Emma Watson Nowling hugged Timothy Nelson Obeshaw at the start of soccer practice Saturday.

"As he was walking by the sidelines, (Emma) went up and gave him a big hug and went back to her training," soccer coach Mario Scicluna said to the Detroit Free Press.

By the end of the night, Obeshaw, a family friend, had shot Nowling and her mother Sharon Elizabeth Watson as they were getting ready to leave, according to the Taylor Police Department.

Obeshaw, 57, then turned the 9mm handgun on himself.

Nowling, 7, was taken to Children's Hospital of Detroit, where she later died of her injuries, according to investigators. Watson, 37, is in serious condition at a local hospital, according to the Detroit Free Press.

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Obeshaw, who parked in a different part of the parking lot at the soccer complex in Taylor, Michigan, confronted Watson as she was leaving practice around 8 p.m., according to police. Obeshaw then fired into her car, hitting Nowling first, then Watson.

Obeshaw had attended soccer practices in the past, according to investigators. He was a family friend who had lived with Watson and her boyfriend. Obeshaw recently moved out.

He had become increasingly mentally unstable and paranoid in the last year, according to investigators. Police also found evidence that Obeshaw believed someone was trying to perform mind control on him.

Obeshaw registered the handgun in September.

Police still are working to determine a motive.

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