Las Vegas judge gives father partial custody, orders firearm surrender after law office

Grandfather kills 2, self in shooting on April 8

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A father whose own father shot and killed his ex-daughter-in-law and her new husband will have to surrender all his firearms before seeing his children, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Joe Houston II, 77, shot and killed Dennis Prince, 57, and his wife, Ashley Prince, 30, during a child custody hearing in Dennis Prince’s Summerlin law office on Monday, April 8. Joe Houston, another attorney, was at the hearing representing his son, Dylan Houston, in his custody dispute with Ashley Prince.

During the deposition of Joe Houston’s wife, Katherine “Kelly” Houston, Joe Houston shot and killed the Princes before dying by suicide.

The deposition involved a years-long custody dispute involving Dylan Houston and Ashley Prince’s two young children. 

A judge had previously ordered that Ashley Prince’s sister be awarded temporary custody of the two children rather than Dylan Houston. Dennis Prince’s children said their stepsister, born to their father and Ashley Prince in December, was also in the care of a legal guardian.

Previous reporting from 8 News Now Investigators demonstrated tension in the days and weeks before the deadly shooting, with the eventual gunman having requested that Ashley Prince not be present at the April 8 deposition.

During the hearing Wednesday, attorneys for Dylan Houston and Ashley Prince’s family argued with Clark County Family Court Judge Bill Henderson.

Henderson was adamant throughout the hearing that the children’s interest should come first, however, attorneys focused on Dylan Houston and text messages he reportedly sent to his ex-wife.

The hearing also focused on the attorneys for Ashley Prince’s family’s request for Dylan Houston to surrender any firearms before seeing his children again.

Henderson granted shared custody between the two sides, ordering Dylan Houston to undergo alcohol monitoring before and during the custodial visits. Another family member of Dylan Houston’s was ordered to supervise those visits. Ashley Prince’s sister will also have partial custody.

Attorney Lisa Rasmussen, who was also at the hearing to represent Joe Houston’s wife, Katherine “Kelly” Houston, in her capacity as the children’s grandmother, described the April 8 deposition as “very tense” in an interview with 8 News Now Investigators.

Rasmussen said initially Joe Houston had asked Dennis Prince if there was hope of resolving the issues for the sake of their two young children, a question that Dennis ignored.

“Dennis didn’t respond at all. He didn’t even acknowledge the question,” Rasmussen said. “There was just nothing and instead, he turned to Kelly and started asking the deposition questions.”

Metro was continuing to investigate the homicides of Dennis and Ashley Prince as of Wednesday, a spokesperson said.

Even though the judge handled some of the emergency issues Wednesday, he scheduled a five-day trial for July.