Family of Las Vegas mother shot dead alongside her new husband by her ex-father in law reveal the sick messages sent to her before the vicious killing amid child custody battle
The family of a woman shot by her ex-father-in-law have accused a family court judge of ignoring brutal text threats.
Dennis and Ashley Prince were shot dead last week during a deposition involving Ashley’s ex-husband, Dylan Houston. Prince represented his wife in the case.
Houston was represented by his father, 77-year-old Joseph Houston II, who opened fire during the proceedings before turning the gun on himself.
Prince, 30, fought for sole custody of her two eldest children during the deposition, while Houston represented his son Dylan.
At a press conference Monday, Ashley’s parents Julie and Paul said Dylan Houston would threaten her with text messages, as many as 70 a day.
These include threats such as, “I don’t want to see you unless you’re in a coffin,” “I’ll chisel you into a weaker and worthless bag of bones,” and “I’ll crush you like you don’t.” “I don’t even understand it,” the family said.
Dennis and Ashley Prince, seen here, were fatally shot last week during a deposition involving Ashley’s ex-husband, Dylan Houston
At a press conference on Monday, Ashley’s parents Julie and Paul, seen here, said Houston would threaten her with text messages, as many as 70 a day
Paul and Julie Page speak to reporters in Las Vegas on Monday, April 15, 2024, as a photo of their daughter Ashley Prince is projected on a screen behind them
Joseph Houston, who turned the gun on himself, is pictured with his daughter
Her parents say their daughter’s lawsuit has failed her as she tried to get protection for herself and her children.
Clark County District Court Judge Bill Henderson had heard the case, with a court spokesman speaking 8newsnow: ‘The court cannot comment due to related pending matters.’
“Our daughter Ashley was a devoted and fierce protector of her children,” Page said, choking back tears as she told reporters her daughter “would never have given up the fight for her children.”
The outlet reported that Dylan Houston, who is also an attorney, sent an email to Dennis Price five days before the shooting.
In documents seen by the 8newsnowHouston said, “You have no idea what’s coming, all your cards are on the table and I haven’t played any of them yet.”
Houston himself was not present at the deposition, but the documents show that a private investigator had recorded “concerning information regarding plaintiff’s drinking and dangerous behavior” a month earlier.
The investigator allegedly saw Dylan driving home from a bar on March 29, weaving across the road.
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 couple were together for several years before getting married, with Ashley announcing that she and Dylan were moving in together in 2014.
Clark County District Court Judge Bill Henderson, pictured here, had heard the case
Prince represented his wife in an ongoing custody case involving her ex-husband, Houston’s son Dylan
She was identified in court filings last month as Ashley Prince.
A divorce decree issued in November 2021 granted the couple joint custody of their children, a son and daughter aged 5 and 4, but this remained in dispute.
According to divorce filings, Dylan struggled with substance abuse while he had custody of their children.
Another of Ashley’s lawyers, John Jones, referred to ‘a positive drug test for cocaine’ and ‘a positive alcohol test while in custody’ and ‘a missed alcohol test’.
Records show that Dylan was arrested in October 2020 on a DUI charge, but later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of reckless driving.
Following his no contest plea in February 2022, Dylan was ordered to complete community service and DUI classes.
Within hours of her death, Ashley’s lawyers filed an emergency motion asking that sole custody of the children be given to her sister. The motion was granted.
In that document, LoBello claimed that Dylan “was or must have been aware of his father’s intentions prior to committing these heinous acts.”
Gunfire erupted Monday morning during a deposition, with Houston pulling out a gun and shooting Prince four times in the chest
Dylan Houston was not present for the deposition, but records show that Ashley filed for sole custody of the couple’s young son and daughter on the morning of the shooting.
She cited an attempt to retrieve his children’in the middle of the school day, despite details of (Ashley’s) status as dead or alive not being made public at this time.”
Dylan responded in response to the accusations.
“The motivation for the April 8, 2024 tragedy is unknown to anyone other than Joseph W. Houston himself. “The defense’s suggestion that this was a ‘planned attack’ on the prosecution is insulting and quite speculative,” he wrote.
He claimed his actions were “not indicative of a co-conspirator, as the defense callously wants the Court to believe, but rather of a concerned father who wants to protect, comfort, love and support his children from any unnecessary discussion of this tragedy.” . .
Gunfire broke out at Prince Law Group’s Summerlin office around 10 a.m., according to Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill.
Court documents filed hours later detail the moments leading up to the senseless violence.
Five minutes after the deposition began, Houston “stood up, had a very glassy and rattled look in his eyes, pulled out a gun and shot Prince four times,” the documents said.
Prince was recognized by the Nevada Justice Association as the Nevada Trial Lawyer of the Year in 2016 and was trying more than 100 cases to jury verdict at the time of his death.
He and Ashley had also recently welcomed a child together.