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Inset left to right: Ashley Prince and Dennis Prince (Obituary). Background: The office building where the Princes were shot and killed in Las Vegas, Nev. (Google Maps).
A Nevada family and the law firm bearing their name are facing allegations of conspiracy following a tragic incident that ended in a double murder-suicide. The chaotic scene unfolded during a deposition related to a contentious child custody battle, leaving three individuals dead.
The grim events took place on April 8, 2024, when attorney Joseph Houston, aged 77, fatally shot Dennis Prince, 57, and his wife, Ashley Prince, 30. After committing the murders, Houston took his own life approximately 20 minutes later.
On March 9, 2026, Nancy Bernstein, Dennis Prince’s former wife and the mother of his son, initiated a negligence lawsuit on behalf of Jack “Parker” Prince. The legal action targets members of Houston’s family along with the now-disbanded Joseph Houston Law Office in Las Vegas, as per court documents from Clark County examined by Law&Crime.
The violent episode transpired in a conference room within the Prince Law Group’s premises located on West Charleston Boulevard.
The lawsuit reveals that at the time of the shooting, Dylan Houston, the son of the gunman, was embroiled in an intense dispute with Ashley Prince. This detail is highlighted in reports from Las Vegas news outlets, including CBS affiliate KLAS and Fox affiliate KVVU.
The lawsuit claims the gunman’s family knew about his plan to kill his ex-daughter-in-law and her new husband but did nothing to stop it. The filing cites messages sent prior to the shooting as evidence that those family members – his widow and son – knew the plot.
Four days before the violence, Dylan Houston allegedly messaged Dennis Prince to say: “You have no idea what’s coming do you, all your cards are on the table and I haven’t played one.”
That email, sent in the middle of the night, demonstrated Dylan Houston’s “foreknowledge of and participation in the plan to kill Dennis Prince and Ashley Prince,” according to the complaint.
Dylan Houston also sent several text messages to his ex-wife, Ashley Prince, before the shooting, the lawsuit claims.
“I don’t want to see you unless you’re in a casket,” one message reads.
In the second message, the eventual victim is told: “I will chisel you down to a weaker and worthless sack of bones.” The third message reads: “I’ll crush you in ways you don’t even comprehend.”
In the custody dispute, Dylan Houston was being represented by his father. Ashley Prince had previously asked about obtaining security for the deposition, but canceled that request when she learned Dylan Houston would not be in attendance.
The fatal deposition was for Katherine Houston, who is the wife of Joseph Houston and Dylan Houston’s mother.
The lawsuit also claims Katherine Houston’s actions in the immediate and later aftermath of the murder-suicide are evidence of a conspiracy.
During the proceedings, Joseph Houston took out a gun and opened fire. Katherine Houston “left the room and did not attempt to talk to her husband about his actions,” the filing reads. She also never checked on the victims – and never even returned to the room “despite her husband shooting two innocent people, and despite her husband shooting himself,” according to the lawsuit.
Then, Katherine Houston transferred three properties into her name after the shooting through a trust she controls, the complaint claimed.
According to the plaintiffs, the Houston family was negligent for causing an unsafe situation due to “conscious disregard for the criminal activity taking place during and leading up to the deposition.”
While the filing is slotted under the negligence banner in broad terms, the lawsuit alleges seven total causes of action, including wrongful death, civil conspiracy, battery, assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and false imprisonment.
“As a direct and proximate result of Defendants’ conduct, Parker lost his father and has been deprived of the love, companionship, comfort, affection, society, solace, moral support, training, guidance, education, and financial support that Dennis would have provided,” the lawsuit reads.
Each of those seven claims is leveled in excess of $15,000 in damages, according to the lawsuit. The plaintiffs are also seeking punitive damages, attorneys’ fees and court costs.
The defendants have yet to respond to the lawsuit as of this writing.