The wife of a Las Vegas lawyer who was shot and killed along with her husband by her cancer-stricken ex-father-in-law during a heated custody dispute at his law office

By Germania Rodriguez Poleo for Dailymail.Com

12:51 April 10, 2024, updated 12:57 April 10, 2024

• Dennis Prince, 57, and his wife, 30-year-old Ashley, were shot Monday
• The shooter, Joseph Houston II, claimed he had died of cancer just days earlier

This is the Las Vegas lawyer's wife who was shot and killed by her former father-in-law along with her husband during a custody hearing.

Dennis Prince, 57, and Ashley Prince, 30, were fatally shot Monday morning during a deposition involving Ashley's ex-husband Dylan Houston. Prince represented his wife in the case.

Dylan was represented by his cancer-stricken father, 77-year-old Joseph Houston II, who opened fire during the proceedings before turning the gun on himself.

Ashley appeared concerned for her safety before Monday's deadly statement and asked a private investigator about private security arrangements, 8 News Now reported.

“Dylan has a lot of guns in this house,” she wrote. '[I don’t know] whether Dylan will be there, but just in case he is.'

Dennis Prince, 57, and Ashley Prince, 30, were fatally shot during a deposition involving Ashley's ex-husband. There was a shooting at the Prince Law Group's Summerlin office around 10 a.m. Monday. Prince represented his wife in an ongoing custody case against her ex-husband, Houston's son Dylan

Ashley canceled the security check after learning that Dylan would not be present for the deposition.

Just five days before the shooting, Dylan – also a lawyer – had emailed Dennis and written: “You have no idea what's coming, all your cards are on the table and I haven't played any yet.” [laughing emoji].'

According to a source with knowledge of the custody dispute, Dylan was apparently referring to a surveillance report that did not paint Dennis in a positive light.

Court records viewed by 8 News Now show Dylan was accused of testing positive for cocaine and alcohol while with the children.

According to the report, Dylan was seen drinking excessive amounts of alcohol on March 29, consuming five three-shot drinks in about four hours. Dylan then got behind the wheel of his vehicle and veered onto the road.

According to court documents, Dylan was required to take a breathalyzer test before seeing the children.

On Monday, a judge ordered that Ashley's sister be given temporary custody of the two children instead of Dylan.

'[P]“Pairing the parties' minor children with plaintiff would be harmful to the children, and granting custody to a non-parent is necessary to serve the best interests of the children based on the recent actions of plaintiff's father and the Plaintiff,” Clark County District Court Judge Bill Henderson wrote.

According to Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill, shots fired at the Summerlin office of Prince Law Group around 10 a.m.

Robert Eglet, a Las Vegas litigator and close friend of Prince for several decades, has revealed that Houston had confided in an interview with Fox News Digital just days earlier that he was dying of cancer.

“Joe told me shortly before the shooting that he was dying of terminal cancer. 'It makes me wonder if he felt he had nothing to lose?' Eglet said.

“But I really don’t know, I can’t explain any of it.”

Court documents filed hours later detailed the moments that preceded the senseless violence.

Five minutes into the statement, Houston “stood up, had a very glassy and disturbed look in his eyes, pulled out a handgun and shot Prince four times,” the documents say.

When the shots rang out, Houston appeared to become aware of a pregnant lawyer who was in the room – and spared her life.

The woman, identified as Shannon Wilson, “immediately ducked and hid under the table in the conference room.”

According to a close friend of Prince's, Houston had confided days before the shooting that he was dying of terminal cancer. Before turning the gun on himself, Prince appeared to spare the life of a pregnant lawyer who begged him not to harm her baby

Michele LoBello, another of Ashley Prince's lawyers, claimed that Wilson begged the shooter not to hurt her baby.

“She explained to me that Mr. Houston allowed her to leave the conference room and after she quickly left and sought shelter elsewhere in the office, she heard more shots fired,” LoBello explained.

Dylan, a partner at Resnick & Louis in Las Vegas, filed for divorce from Ashley in October 2021 after four years of marriage.

According to social media posts, the two dated for several years before getting married, with Ashley announcing that she and Dylan were moving in together in 2014.

Just last month, she was identified in court records as Ashley Prince.

A divorce decree issued in November 2021 granted the two joint custody of their children, a son and a daughter aged 5 and 4 – but this remained controversial.

Records show Dylan was arrested for DUI in October 2020, but later pleaded no contest to a DUI charge.

After pleading no contest in February 2022, Dylan was ordered to complete community service and DUI courses.

The documents also say he sent abusive text messages to Ashley, who filed for sole custody of the couple's children on the morning of the shooting.

Just hours after her death, Ashley's lawyers filed an emergency motion requesting that sole custody of the children be given to her sister. The request was granted.

In that document, LoBello claimed that Dylan “knew or should have known of his father's intentions prior to committing these heinous acts.”

She cited an attempt to pick up his children “in the middle of the school day, although details of (Ashley's) status as dead or alive have not been released at this time.”

Dylan responded to the allegations.

“The motivation for the April 8, 2024 tragedy is unknown to anyone except Joseph W. Houston himself.” “The defense's claim that it was a 'planned attack' involving the plaintiff is offensive and quite speculative,” he wrote .

Dennis Prince, 57, and his wife Ashley Prince, 30, were killed Monday morning in a shooting at his law office by another attorney, 77-year-old Joseph Houston II

He claimed that his actions were “not indicative of a co-conspirator, as the defense callously would have the court believe, but rather of a concerned father who wanted to protect, comfort, love and support his children from unnecessary discussions about this tragedy.” .

According to a biography on the law firm's website, Prince was a founding member and lead litigator on all major cases.

He was named Nevada Trial Attorney of the Year in 2016 by the Nevada Justice Association and was trying more than 100 cases to a jury verdict at the time of his death.

He and Ashley had also recently welcomed a child together.

The rights group released a statement a few hours after the killings thanking everyone who reached out to us with heartfelt messages of concern and compassion over the tragic violence that occurred in our offices this morning.

The Houston family released their own statement Tuesday through a public relations firm.

“Our family is deeply shocked and saddened by yesterday’s events. “We ask for prayers and privacy as we try to navigate the coming days,” it said.

“The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department is still conducting its investigation, and speculation about details of the incident only serves to increase the trauma for our already grieving and overwhelmed families.”

“We have full confidence in Metro’s efforts and will defer any future comments to them as their investigation progresses.”