2 Gun Deaths Look Like Murder-Suicide

A 10-year-old girl called police Wednesday to report finding the bodies of her aunt and the aunt’s boyfriend in a bedroom of her home in what police are calling an apparent murder-suicide.

The aunt, Nancy Green, 31, of Santa Ana, and John Simmons, also 31, of Tustin had been dead for a few hours when officers arrived, said Sgt. Dan Carr. Police said they believed that Simmons shot Green and then himself.

Carr said the girl, whose name was not released, called police about 3 p.m. from a townhouse in the 3000 block of South Bradford Place.

Officers found the bodies of Green and Simmons in an upstairs bedroom, Carr said, and recovered a .38-caliber handgun during a search of the house, Carr said.

Neighbor Mitch Tate said that Green’s older sister, Evelyn Reyes, who owns the townhouse, told him Wednesday night that Simmons had arrived at the home at 7:30 that morning. The two women were preparing to leave for work. Usually, Tate said, Reyes drove her sister to work. But Green turned down Reyes’ offer Wednesday, saying “John has a car.”

The 10-year-old girl “had heard them (Green and Simmons) arguing before she left for school,” Tate said. “She came home after school and saw both bodies in the bedroom, then called her mother.”

Tate said the mother did not believe the girl, who then dialed 911.

Evelyn Reyes, Tate said, came home later.

“She’s taking this very hard. She still doesn’t think it’s her sister.”

Reyes stayed with Tate while investigators went through the house. The girl went to her uncle’s house.

Tate said Green “was a really nice lady, low-key. She picked the wrong boyfriends.”

Witnesses told police they heard what they assumed was a car backfiring several hours before the bodies were found, Carr said.

“Witnesses stated that earlier in the morning three gunshots were heard,” he said.

Morrison and other neighbors described the complex where Green lived as a quiet community with many families and small children. About 75 two- and three-story townhouses are scattered throughout the development.

“I never heard of murder here,” Morrison said. “A couple of burglaries, but my gosh, I have never thought a murder would happen here.”

Staff writers Jim Newton and Matt Lait contributed to this story.