A Sept. 1 confrontation ended with a mother and her two children dead and her boyfriend facing 13 felonies, according to police.
LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Before investigators knew the victims’ names or had reconstructed the argument inside their apartment, Las Vegas police were already describing the deaths of a woman and her two children as a domestic-related homicide.
That assessment came after Juan Carlos Orona, 29, reported to police that he had shot his girlfriend and her children on Sept. 1, according to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. Officers later found Nohani Flores Osuna, 41, Maiya Deleon Flores, 16, and Noah Morales Flores, 7, dead inside their home. Orona now faces three counts of open murder with use of a deadly weapon and 10 counts of discharging a firearm within a structure. He remains held without bail, with a preliminary hearing scheduled for Oct. 21.
Lt. Robert Price, speaking to reporters near the apartment complex on the night of the shootings, said domestic violence was among the recurring circumstances homicide investigators encounter. At that early stage, detectives did not know whether police had previously been called to the family’s home or whether a documented history of domestic violence existed. Price said investigators would examine those questions. His comments framed the relationship context of the case without resolving precisely what happened in the apartment or determining Orona’s legal responsibility.
The emergency response began at roughly 7:10 p.m. when Orona contacted police from the Southeast Area Command, authorities said. Rather than officers being dispatched first because of a 911 call from the apartment, police said Orona told them he had shot his girlfriend and her two children and wanted to surrender. He gave them the O’Bannon Drive address. Officers headed to the residence while others took Orona into custody. Police said there was no indication of an ongoing danger to neighbors and described the incident as isolated.
Officers who reached the apartment in the 5100 block of O’Bannon Drive forced their way inside. They found an adult woman, a teenage girl and a boy younger than 10 suffering from apparent gunshot wounds. Medical personnel declared all three dead. The coroner later released the identities of Flores Osuna, Maiya and Noah. Local reports said the family had lived in the apartment complex for about two or three months, and the Clark County School District said Maiya was a student at Bonanza High School.
Orona also required medical attention that night. Police officers noticed what the department called an apparent gunshot wound after taking him into custody. He was transported to a hospital, treated and later booked into the Clark County Detention Center. Price described the injury as superficial. Authorities did not immediately determine how Orona was wounded or whether the injury was self-inflicted, and the department’s public statements did not assign any role in that injury to the three people who were killed.
The arrest report describes a relationship that Orona told detectives had lasted only three to six months. He said he had helped Flores Osuna obtain the apartment and had been paying rent. On Sept. 1, according to his statement summarized in the report, Orona saw Flores Osuna’s vehicle near a vehicle belonging to an ex-boyfriend. He later confronted her. Investigators wrote that Flores Osuna acknowledged having a sexual relationship with the former boyfriend and made a comparison that angered Orona.
The detail about the comparison drew attention in early coverage, but the police record treats it as part of Orona’s account of the confrontation rather than as an established legal explanation for the killings. Orona told detectives he “blacked out” after the conversation. He said that when he next remembered his surroundings, he was holding a Glock 9 mm handgun in a bathroom and Flores Osuna and both children were on the ground. No court has determined whether his claimed memory loss is accurate or what significance, if any, it has to the charges.
Police found 10 spent 9 mm cartridge cases at the scene. Prosecutors later charged Orona with 10 counts involving the discharge of a firearm inside a structure in addition to the three murder counts. The public record does not yet contain a complete account of which shots were fired when, how each victim was positioned or how long the incident lasted. Investigators have instead disclosed a mixture of scene evidence and statements as the case moves through its early stages.
Orona reportedly told detectives that he kept the handgun because he feared Flores Osuna’s former boyfriend might come to the apartment and hurt him. Authorities have not accused that man of involvement in the shooting. Orona also said he had fragments of memory involving Flores Osuna and the children yelling or moving toward him, according to descriptions of the arrest report. He could not provide detectives with a complete account of the gunfire, and investigators have not treated his claimed blackout as a substitute for reconstructing the scene.
What happened after the shooting is described more clearly in the arrest paperwork. Orona’s father told detectives that his son contacted family members and admitted hurting Flores Osuna and the children. According to the report, Orona said he had lost control during the confrontation. His father told investigators that he instructed Orona to turn himself in and be accountable. Orona’s father and brother drove him to the police substation, where his report triggered the response to the apartment.
The first court appearance resulted in Orona being held without bail. A judge found probable cause for his arrest on Sept. 3. When he returned to court Sept. 9, Justice of the Peace Amy Wilson addressed both the seriousness of the allegations and the legal protections required in a criminal prosecution. Family members of the victims were in the courtroom. Orona told the judge he could not afford a private lawyer, and the court appointed a public defender to represent him.
The case illustrates why the language used in an initial domestic-violence investigation remains narrower than the findings a court may eventually make. Police can describe the relationship context and report statements gathered during an investigation, while prosecutors must still prove each criminal allegation under the rules of evidence. Orona’s statements about jealousy, infidelity and losing control are part of the investigative record, but they do not amount to a judicial finding of motive, intent or guilt.
Similarly, the deaths of Flores Osuna and her children cannot be reduced to the comment Orona says preceded his claimed blackout. Police records document several distinct issues: the couple’s relationship, his observation of her vehicle near an ex-boyfriend’s vehicle, the later confrontation, his possession of a handgun, 10 shots fired inside the apartment, his surrender and the statements he made afterward. The criminal process will determine how those pieces fit together and what can be proved in court.
Investigators initially asked anyone with information about the family or the incident to contact the Metropolitan Police Department’s Homicide Section. Authorities have not publicly reported another suspect or an ongoing danger related to the shooting. The prosecution now proceeds against Orona alone. The defense has not publicly presented a detailed response to the factual allegations in the police report, and his appointed attorney declined comment following the Sept. 9 court appearance.
As of Oct. 20, the three deaths remain the subject of an active criminal case rather than a completed finding of guilt. Orona is being held without bail on 13 felony counts. His Oct. 21 preliminary hearing is the next confirmed court proceeding and will address whether prosecutors have presented sufficient evidence to advance the case. The broader questions raised by the domestic confrontation, the gunfire and Orona’s claimed loss of memory remain unresolved pending further court proceedings.
Author note: Last updated October 20, 2026.