Man Shoots 2 Girls, Then Self, Police Say

A Lake Elsinore man tied up and sexually assaulted his girlfriend for four days, then shot and critically wounded her two young daughters Monday before fatally shooting himself, a Riverside County sheriff’s detective said.

Onensimun James, 36, was found by deputies with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, said Det. Shelley Kennedy-Smith. His body “was laying on top of the two girls, who had apparent gunshot wounds to their heads.”

The girls were taken to Riverside County Regional Medical Center. They were both reported to be in critical condition.

James lived in the house and the girls and their mother, whose identity has not been released, lived in a trailer on the property, Kennedy-Smith said. The 2-year-old was their daughter and the 6-year-old was hers from a previous relationship.

On Friday, after James discovered she was attempting to break off the relationship, “she awoke as he was duct-taping her hands and ankles,” Kennedy-Smith said. The woman told deputies that “for the next several days he had unlawful sex with her against her will.”

On Monday, “in an attempt to have him release her, she acted like she wanted to be a willing participant. He untied her hands and feet and she took off running.”

A neighbor took her in and called 911. After officers arrived, and she told them what had happened, they found the wounded girls and James’ body in his home.