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, along with their associated law firm, faces allegations of conspiracy following a tragic double murder-suicide during a deposition concerning a child custody battle. This horrific event resulted in the deaths of three individuals.
On April 8, 2024, attorney Joseph Houston, aged 77, fatally shot Dennis Prince, 57, and his wife, Ashley Prince, 30, before turning the gun on himself approximately 20 minutes later.
On March 9, 2026, Nancy Bernstein, Dennis Prince’s former wife and mother to their son, Jack “Parker” Prince, initiated a negligence lawsuit on his behalf. The lawsuit targets members of Houston’s family and the now-closed Joseph Houston Law Office in Las Vegas, as indicated by documents from Clark County court examined by Law&Crime.
This incident unfolded in a conference room at the Prince Law Group building on West Charleston Boulevard.
At the heart of the issue was a contentious dispute between Dylan Houston, the gunman’s son, and Ashley Prince, as outlined in the complaint sourced by Las Vegas-based CBS affiliate KLAS and Fox affiliate KVVU.
The lawsuit alleges that Houston’s family was aware of his intentions to kill his former daughter-in-law and her husband but failed to intervene. It presents prior communications as evidence, suggesting that his widow and son were cognizant of the plan.
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.
