A 29-year-old Las Vegas man faces three counts of open murder after allegedly shooting his girlfriend and her two children, including a kindergartner, then turning himself in with a gunshot wound to his own abdomen.
Juan Orona surrendered to police shortly after 7 p.m. Tuesday, accompanied by his father and brother, after allegedly gunning down Nohani Flores-Osuna and her two children, 16-year-old Maiya and her young son Noah, inside the west Las Vegas apartment the couple shared. Orona told dispatchers the shooting happened inside the home and that the weapon, a 9mm Glock handgun, was in a backpack in his vehicle.
Officers forced their way into the apartment in the 5100 block of O'Bannon Drive, near Sahara Avenue and Decatur Boulevard, and found all three victims dead. Orona, who had a gunshot wound to his abdomen, was taken to Sunrise Hospital for treatment. He now sits in the Clark County Detention Center facing three counts of open murder with a deadly weapon and 10 counts of firing a gun into an occupied structure.
The arrest report, obtained by KLAS, lays out a grim sequence. Earlier that Tuesday, Orona spotted Flores-Osuna's car parked near the vehicle belonging to her ex-boyfriend, identified only as "Henry." Orona then confronted Flores-Osuna at the apartment complex.
Flores-Osuna allegedly admitted she had been unfaithful. She reportedly told Orona that her ex-boyfriend was "better in bed."
Orona told police he then "blacked out." He did not deny shooting all three victims but claimed he could not remember who he shot first or why. He recalled Flores-Osuna and her children either yelling at him or coming toward him during the alleged blackout, but he could not provide further details.
A kindergartner and a 16-year-old girl are dead. Whatever triggered the argument, nothing in the arrest report suggests either child posed any threat or played any role in the dispute between the two adults.
Orona's father told police his son called around 7 p.m. Tuesday and said he had hurt his girlfriend and her children. The father and Orona's brother then accompanied Orona as he turned himself in to officers shortly afterward.
Orona reportedly told detectives he knew he needed to surrender and be held accountable. He had been dating Flores-Osuna for roughly three to six months and had been staying at the apartment, helping pay rent.
The arrest report does not say whether Orona's abdominal gunshot wound was self-inflicted. No criminal allegations have been made against "Henry," the ex-boyfriend whose parked vehicle apparently set off the chain of events.
At a hearing Thursday, Orona's court-appointed public defender asked to delay the bail decision to allow time to review the case. Fox 5 reported on the proceedings. Orona is scheduled to return to court September 9.
The charges are severe. Three counts of open murder with a deadly weapon, plus 10 counts of firing a gun into an occupied structure, mean Orona faces the possibility of spending the rest of his life behind bars, or worse, depending on how prosecutors proceed.
Three people are dead in a Las Vegas apartment. Two of them were children who had nothing to do with an adult's jealousy. No claimed blackout changes that, and no court date will bring them back.
