Las Vegas lawyer, 77, who shot dead son's ex-wife and her prominent attorney husband during custody case was dying from cancer after receiving terminal diagnosis, his former colleague claims

The Las Vegas attorney and his wife who were killed in a shooting at his offices were gunned down by a fellow lawyer diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Dennis Prince, 57, and Ashley Prince, 30, were fatally shot during a deposition involving Ashley's ex-husband, Dylan Houston, on Monday morning. Prince was representing his wife in the case. 

Dylan was represented by his father, 77-year-old Joseph Houston II, who opened fire during the proceedings before turning the gun on himself.

Now, Robert Eglet, a Las Vegas trial lawyer and close friend of Prince for several decades, has revealed Houston had confided that he was dying of cancer just days earlier in an interview with Fox News Digital. 

'Joe told me this not long before the shooting, that he was dying of terminal cancer. Makes me wonder if he felt like he had nothing to lose?' Eglet said.

'I really don't know though, I can't make any sense of this all.' 

Dennis Prince, 57, and wife Ashley Prince, 30, were killed in a shooting at his law firm on Monday morning by another attorney, 77-year-old Joseph Houston II

According to a close friend of Prince, Houston had confided that he was dying from terminal cancer just days before the shooting

According to Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill, gunshots broke out at around 10 a.m. inside the Prince Law Group's Summerlin office.

'You know, it's just so tragic, I can't even put it into words,' Eglet said. 

Court documents filed hours later detailed the moments preceding the senseless violence.

Five minutes after the deposition began, Houston 'stood up, had a very glazed and rattled look in his eyes, pulled out a handgun and shot Prince four times,' the documents state.

As the shots rang out, Houston appeared to take notice of a pregnant lawyer who was in the room - and spare her life.

The woman, identified as Shannon Wilson, 'immediately ducked and hid under the conference room table.'

Michele LoBello, another one of Ashley Prince's attorneys, alleged that Wilson had pleaded with the gunman not to hurt her baby.

'She explained to me that Mr. Houston allowed her to leave the conference room and following her quick departure and taking cover elsewhere in the office, she heard additional shots fired,' LoBello stated.

Prince was representing his wife in an ongoing custody case involving her ex-husband, Houston's son Dylan

Gunshots broke out during a deposition Monday morning, with Houston pulling out a handgun and shooting Prince in the chest four times

Before turning the gun on himself, Prince appeared to spare the life of a pregnant lawyer who pleaded with him not to hurt her baby 

Dylan Houston himself was not present at the deposition, but the documents note that a private investigator had recorded 'concerning information regarding Plaintiff's drinking and dangerous behavior' a month earlier.

The investigator allegedly observed Dylan driving home from a bar on March 29 while swerving around the road.

Dylan, who is a partner at Resnick & Louis in Las Vegas, filed for divorce from Ashley in October 2021 following four years of marriage.

According to social media posts, the pair were together for several years before they wed, with Ashley announcing that she and Dylan were moving in together in 2014.

She was identified as Ashley Prince in court records as recently as last month. 

A divorce decree issued in November 2021 granted the pair joint custody of their children, a son and daughter aged 5 and 4 - however, this remained in dispute.

Divorce filings allege Dylan grappled with substance abuse while he had custody of their children.

Another one of Ashley's lawyers, John Jones, made reference to 'a positive drug test for cocaine' as well as 'a positive alcohol test during his custodial time' as well as 'a missed alcohol test'.

Dylan Houston was not present at the deposition, but records show Ashley had filed for sole custody of the pair's young son and daughter the very morning of the shooting

Divorce filings allege that Dylan, who was arrested on a DUI charge in 2020, grappled with substance abuse while he had custody of the children

Gunshots erupted at around 10 a.m. Monday at the Prince Law Group's Summerlin office

Records show Dylan was arrested on a DUI charge in October 2020, but later pleaded it down to a misdemeanor reckless driving charge.

Following his no contest plea in February 2022, Dylan was ordered to complete community service and DUI classes. 

The records also claim he would send abusive texts to Ashley, who filed for sole custody of the pair's children the very morning of the shooting.

Within hours of her death, Ashley's lawyers filed an emergency motion requesting that sole custody of the children be given to her sister. The motion was granted.

In that document, LoBello alleged Dylan 'knew or must have known of the intentions of his father prior to the commission of these heinous acts.'

She cited an attempt to pick up his children 'in the middle of the school day, despite the details as to (Ashley's) status of dead or alive not being made public at this time'.

Dylan hit back at the accusations in a response. 

'The motivation of the tragedy of April 8, 2024, is unknown to anyone but Joseph W. Houston himself. The Defense's suggestion that this was a 'planned attack' with the Plaintiff is insulting and quite speculative,' he wrote.

He asserted that his actions were 'not indicative of a co-conspirator as the Defense callously would like the Court to believe, rather that of a concerned father wanting to protect, console, love and support his children from any unnecessary discussion regarding this tragedy'.

Prince was the founding member and lead trial counsel on all major cases, according to a bio on the firm's website

The 57-year-old and his wife, who was identified as Ashley Prince in court records last month, had recently welcomed a child together

According to a biography on the law firm's website, Prince was the founding member and lead trial counsel on all major cases.

He was recognized as the Nevada Trial Lawyer of the Year in 2016 by the Nevada Justice Association and tried more than 100 cases to jury verdict at the time of his death.

He and Ashley had also recently welcomed a child together.

The law group released a statement hours after the murders, thanking 'everyone who has reached out to us with heartfelt messages of concern and sympathy over the tragic violence that occurred this morning in our offices'.

The Houston family released their own statement through a public relations firm on Tuesday.

'Our family is in a state of profound shock and sadness at yesterday's events. We ask for prayers and privacy as we try to navigate the coming days,' it read.

'The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department is still conducting their investigation and as that continues, speculation about details of the incident only serves to add trauma to our already grieving and overwhelmed families.

'We have full faith in Metro's efforts and will leave all future comment to them as their investigation unfolds.'