Multiple wrongful death lawsuits were filed Friday relating to the 2024 killings of attorney Dennis Prince and his wife Ashley Prince.
Dennis Prince, 57, and Ashley Prince, 30, were shot and killed by attorney Joe Houston at Prince’s law firm in Summerlin on April 8. Houston was the father of Prince’s ex-husband, Dylan Houston.
The shooting played out during a deposition in a child custody battle between Ashley Prince and Dylan Houston. Joe Houston was serving as his son’s legal representation in the custody case.
After shooting the couple, Joe Houston turned the gun on himself.
In the first lawsuit filed Friday in Clark County District Court, Ashley Prince’s parents, Paul and Julie Page, allege that Dylan Houston’s mother, Katherine Houston, had “knowledge” that Joe Houston planned to “shoot Ashley during the deposition.”
Katherine Houston, according to the lawsuit, was present for the deposition inside a room at the Summerlin law office. After the shooting occurred, however, she left “the room” and “did not talk to her husband about his actions.”
The suit also alleges that she “did not check on Ashley or Dennis” following the shooting. According to the lawsuit, Katherine Houston did not “return to the room, despite her husband shooting two innocent people and despite her husband shooting himself.”
The civil conspiracy claim is one of six levied in the lawsuit by Ashley Prince’s parents, who are acting as her estate.
Along with Katherine Houston, the estate of Joe Houston and the now closed Houston Law Firm, his former business, are listed as defendants. The suit seeks an unspecified amount of damages and a jury trial.
Efforts to reach Katherine Houston for comment by phone Friday evening were unsuccessful. When reached by phone Friday night, Julie Page declined to comment on the lawsuits, but said a press conference is planned for later this month.
Similar in nature, the other two lawsuits list three minors — two children from Ashley Prince’s marriage to Dylan Houston and one from her marriage to Dennis Prince — as plaintiffs.
In January, the custody battle over who would care for the Houston children was settled. A judge ordered that the children split time between their maternal grandparents, the Princes, and their father, Dylan Houston, who represented himself in the custody matter.
In July, the Metropolitan Police Department announced that Dylan Houston was not a suspect in the investigation into the homicides. He was not listed as a defendant in any of the three lawsuits filed Friday.
Contact Bryan Horwath at bhorwath@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BryanHorwath on X.