Woman requested security before Summerlin shooting that left 3 dead
Ashley Prince wanted security at a deposition in her child custody case but canceled the request after learning that her ex-husband would not attend the meeting, according to communications shared with the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Tuesday.
The woman and her new husband, Dennis Prince, an attorney who represented her in the custody case, were shot and killed Monday morning by her ex-husband’s father during the deposition.
Five days earlier, in the midst of a contentious custody battle with Dylan Houston, Dennis Prince had sent Houston photos and details of a private investigation, according to the communications shared with the Review-Journal. An investigation showed that Houston had been drinking and driving as recently as March 29, according to court records.
At 1:28 a.m. Thursday, Houston emailed Prince, according to screenshots shared with the Review-Journal.
“All you have is this?” the email said. “You needed extra time for it? Luckily you hired Shannon (Wilson), you wouldn’t want to keep paying Jones and Lobello for her work. Hahahaha back to the drawing board I guess, 1000 an hour don’t get much these days. You have no idea what’s coming do you, all your cards are on the table, and I haven’t played one.”
He closed the email with a squinting, laughing emoji with tears.
Court records indicate that Houston pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor reckless driving charge, which stemmed from an arrest in October 2020, in February 2022. He was ordered to complete community service and DUI classes.
Dennis Prince, 57, and his 30-year-old wife were killed at the deposition inside the offices of Prince Law Group in Summerlin. They were the parents of an infant.
Custody battle
The shooter was Houston’s father, 77-year-old Joseph Houston II, who turned the gun on himself, authorities and those familiar with the attack have said. Joseph Houston, a longtime attorney, was representing his son in the custody battle.
Court records show that Dylan Houston, who also is a lawyer in Las Vegas, filed for divorce from Ashley in October 2021 after a four-year marriage.
A divorce decree issued a month later granted the pair joint physical and legal custody of two children. But custody of the children, now 5 and 4, remained in dispute.
Within hours of the killings, lawyers for Ashley Prince filed an emergency motion requesting that sole custody of the children be given to the dead woman’s sister. A judge granted the motion.
In that motion, attorneys for Ashley Prince wrote that Dylan Houston’s actions around the time of the shooting suggested that he “knew or must have known of the intentions of his father prior to the commission of these heinous acts.”
In a court filing, Dylan Houston denied the allegations. He could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Private investigator Hal de Becker III had been hired in March 2022 by lawyers representing Ashley Prince, then Ashley Houston.
Attorney John Jones, who also represented her, alleged in a May deposition that the custody proceedings involved substance abuse allegations against Dylan Houston, including “a positive drug test for cocaine.”
Safety concerns
On April 4, Ashley Prince sent a text message to the private investigator, according to a screenshot shared with the Review-Journal.
“Do you have any private security you recommend?” she asked.
“Yes, of course,” the investigator replied. “What are your immediate concerns?”
Ashley Prince texted: “We have a deposition Monday at 10 with him at dennis office so like 4 hours on Monday morning Dylan has a ton of guns in that house.”
The investigator responded: “Understood. We’ll facilitate that for you. Are his weapons all registered? Probably not is my guess.”
She wrote back to the investigator: “Ok thanks I would just feel better that way Honestly I don’t know a lot to his dad because that’s his dads house he lives in.”
In a text message a minute later she added: “(I don’t know) if Dylan will be there but in case he is.”
At 9:11 a.m. Thursday, she asked the investigator for more security.
“Also friday at 9:30 at their school for a parade because I’ll be alone then Friday the 12th,” she texted the investigator.
At 1:46 p.m. Thursday, she canceled security for the deposition.
“Nothing monday — he will not be there,” she wrote.
Dylan Houston is a partner at Resnick & Louis’ Las Vegas office, according to the firm’s website, and has experience in all areas of civil litigation. Prior to joining Resnick & Louis, he worked for a national insurance defense firm for nearly seven years.
He received his bachelor’s degree from UNLV in 2011, according to the firm’s website, and his law degree in 2014 from California Western School of Law.
According to the State Bar of Nevada website, he has been licensed to practice law in Nevada since 2015, and his father was licensed in 1974.
Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com.
