The Murder of Ashley and Dennis Prince Flashback

Episode #36 When Leaving Isn't Enough (the Princes)

[Shaun]

Ashley and Dennis Prince had been married for a short time and had just welcomed a baby into their lives. Dennis, a prominent Vegas attorney, was representing her in a very contentious custody case involving her ex-husband, Dylan. 

[John] 

The two were in a deposition regarding the custody of their two children and Ashley assumed it would all go smoothly because Dylan wouldn't be present. What happened in that deposition would shock the entire Las Vegas community.

[Shaun] 

Hi and welcome to Sins and Survivors, a Las Vegas true crime podcast, where we focus on cases that deal with domestic violence. I’m your host, Shaun, and with me as always, is the one and only John.

[John] 

I am the only John in the room.

[Shaun] 

This week, our case deals with a family working through a highly contentious divorce and custody dispute. 

While we often cover stories where families have relocated here from another part of the country, or even another country that isn't the case here.

This one involves two families each containing prominent local lawyers. The whole thing was a perfect storm. We have a custody battle where a new spouse is representing one party and the other party is being represented by his own father.

[John] 

On April 8th, 2024, Ashley Prince, Age 30, was attending a deposition related to a long drawn-out custody battle with her ex husband, Dylan Houston, over their two children, ages 4 and 5.

Ashley was represented by her new husband, Dennis Prince, age 57. The two of them had recently welcomed their first baby in January of 2024.

The deposition took place in Dennis’s Summerlin Law Office. 

Dylan, who was not present, was represented by his father, Attorney Joseph Houston. Dennis Prince was set to ask questions of Katherine Houston (Joseph’s wife, and Dylan’s mother). She was represented by Attorney Lisa Rasmussen. There was one other lawyer present from Dennis Prince’s law group named Shannon Wilson, who was pregnant at the time.

As you can probably tell, this was a VERY contentious deposition as part of a very nasty custody battle.

The deposition started at 10am.

According to Lisa Rasmussen, as they started, Joe then said to Dennis, ‘Before we start, is there any hope that we can resolve any of the issues for the sake of the kids?’” Dennis didn't answer him or acknowledge the question but simply started asking Katherine questions.

Just a couple of minutes into the deposition, according to a court document, Attorney Joe Houston, 77 years old, “stood up, had a very glazed and rattled look in his eyes, pulled out a handgun and shot (Dennis) Prince four times,”. He then shot Ashley, the mother of his two grandchildren, and then he turned the gun on himself.

Shannon, Lisa, Katherine, and the unnamed court reporter survived the incident.

[Shaun] 

Sadly, Ashley and Dennis both died as a result of the shooting. The two had only been married a short time, and their baby was only 4 months old. 

Ashley was born on August 17th, 1993 right here in Las Vegas, the oldest of 4 siblings.. Her brother’s name is Bryce, and her sisters are named Lexie and Madison. She went to Palo Verde High School and had been an Interior Designer for 15 years.

She was a stepmom to Dennis’s adult children.

Ashley loved Christmas and decorating (which makes sense), and she loved doing things like mapping out Santa’s route for her young children. She loved traveling and reading bedtime stories to her kids, and she was a foodie.

She was especially excited that her daughter would soon be starting kindergarten.

Dennis was also a Las Vegas Native. That seems fairly rare these days, most people we’ve met are transplants from other places, and it's not often you find someone who was born here and stayed here. Dennis was born on February 2nd, 1967, and went to Bonanza High School. He got his degree in finance from UNLV and went on to law school at California Western.

He headed a successful Law Firm called the Prince Law Group, and was a well-known trial lawyer here in Las Vegas for over 30 years, known for practicing personal injury law.

Dennis had 4 children, 3 from prior relationships plus the new baby, a son-in-law, 2 stepchildren (Ashley’s kids), and 1 grandson. He was beloved in the community and loved the beach, golfing, and cheering for his kids at their sporting events.

[John]

He was well respected in the legal community and a deeply trusted mentor to friends and colleagues, and was described as being kind, generous, and compassionate. People said he was always the best dressed and the life of the party.

Ashley’s sister Lexie told the press that “She had a personality and a livelihood that she not only wanted the best for herself, but everyone around her. She would go through great lengths to get that.” Whatever Ashley Prince did, she did with her kids in mind. “They were always her first intention. She wanted the best life for them.”

On the day of Dennis’s funeral, some well-known Las Vegans made statements about him to the Las Vegas Review Journal. Las Vegas Attorney Richard Harris told the press, “Dennis Prince had it all. Dennis Prince had looks; he had a brain; a stylish dresser; a very talented, very talented trial attorney; and charming as they come.”

“I just thought very, very highly of him,” Former Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak said. “He always was very amicable, very nice, very easy to get along with.”

“I hope that people will remember him as just a great person, wonderful personality, great father and a person that loved our community,” Las Vegas City Councilman Cedric Crear said.

Dennis Prince’s celebration of life drew an estimated 750 people at Palm Mortuary and Cemetery here in Las Vegas. Richard Harris acknowledged the large crowd and said “This is just proof of his popularity and the love that people had for him. He’s one of a kind.”

[Shaun] 

Shortly after the shooting, Dylan attempted to pick up the children at school in the middle of the school day, despite there being no public notice that confirmed Ashley was one of the victims and whether or not she was still alive.

Ashley’s attorney filed an emergency petition with the courts asking for sole custody of Ashley and Dylan’s children to be granted to Ashley’s sister. The assertion was that Dylan’s actions made him look like an accomplice or co-conspirator in the murders of Ashley and Dennis.

This request was granted by the judge, Bill Henderson who was handling the contentious divorce. 

After the shooting, a great deal of information about Ashley and Dylan’s relationship was made public. 

Dylan, as you might expect, had a long history of threatening and abusive behavior toward Ashley. They divorced in 2017 after being together for 4 years. She had to take out a restraining order against him in 2021 because he allegedly “took out a bat and started smashing things around the house”

He was required to take a breathalyzer test before seeing the children and at various times tested positive for cocaine and alcohol while he had custody of the children. He had to go several months without seeing the children because of his drug use.

According to Ashley’s family, Ashley put up with years of absolutely unrelenting abuse and threats. Dylan allegedly sent Ashley upwards of 70 text messages a day. Her family read out some of these text messages at a hearing after the murder including one where he told Ashley \ to “prepare for a future on your knees,” and one where he said, “I don’t want to see you unless you’re in a casket.” and another one that said “the kids are better off without you”.. And another said that he thought Ashley should “Move to Oregon and get euthanized.”

We also learned that they had planned to have security present at the deposition, but canceled it when they learned that Dylan would not be present.  They said they expected violence, but from Dylan, not from Joe.

The family asserted that despite Dylan’s constant threats and harassment, he was never sanctioned by the court for his abusive behavior. They pointed out countless red flags that were “glossed over by the court”

[John]

Currently, Ashley’s family has temporary custody of the children and they are working tirelessly to maintain it, but the case is ongoing. 

Both of these cases are horrible and tragic. The thought of Ashley, Dennis, and Marillorky’s children growing up in a world where their parents were taken from them is incredibly heartbreaking.

Another Las Vegas Lawyer named Michancy Cramer was quoted as saying ‘I’m surprised it doesn’t happen more frequently’, and we absolutely agree. The court system needs to do better. Red flags as we saw in these two cases cannot be ignored, and neither can the risk of gun violence in these highly contentious legal situations.

[Shaun] 

Thank you as always for listening. John and I will be discussing our opinions on these two cases in our Swing Shift Bonus episode which is available to all of our Apple Podcast and Patreon subscribers. Visit sinspod.co/subscribe to become one of our subscribers and have access to those exclusive episodes. 

Both of these tragic cases happened less than a year from the date of recording, and we know the pain these families and our community are feeling is still very raw. We want to remind everyone listening that you can find a list of resources in our show notes or on our website sinsandsurvivors.com

We will be back with another new episode next week, thanks again, and remember, what happens here, happens everywhere.