LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Las Vegas lawyer and his wife had been in the middle of a contentious battle for custody of her children from a previous marriage when the woman's former father-in-law, also an attorney, fatally shot them last week during a deposition hearing in the case, according to authorities and relatives.
The coroner's office in Las Vegas identified the victims as lawyer Dennis Prince and his wife, Ashley. Both were shot multiple times, the coroner's office said, before 77-year-old Joseph Houston shot and killed himself.
Gunfire erupted just minutes after the deposition hearing began on the morning of April 8 at Dennis Prince's law firm, Prince Law Group, in the affluent Summerlin neighborhood.
Seven people were in the room at the time of the shooting, police said. The four others, including a court reporter, were able to quickly escape and call police.
At a news conference Monday, Ashley Prince's parents said their daughter was previously married to Houston’s son and had been trying for years to gain sole custody of their two children. Houston, a lawyer in Nevada since 1974, had been representing his son in the custody battle, court records show.
Julie Page said they will continue their daughter’s fight to win custody of the children, ages 4 and 5.
“Our daughter Ashley was a devoted and fierce protector of her children,” Page said, choking back tears as she told reporters that her daughter "would have never given up the fight for her children.”
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, which is investigating the shooting, didn't immediately respond Monday to a request for comment on the family's statement.
Bryce Page said Monday that his sister “was beaming from her core” after she met Dennis Prince. He said his sister realized a lifelong dream to build a “warm, loving environment” for her family after she recently welcomed her first child with Dennis Prince.
Prince was a trial lawyer in Las Vegas for 30 years and headed Prince Law Group, where the shooting unfolded.
He started that firm after building a reputation as a top attorney in Nevada personal injury, product liability, negligence and insurance cases. His professional profiles say he tried more than 90 cases to verdict and had more than a dozen published state Supreme Court cases.
“With profound sadness, Prince Law Group would like to thank 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 law group said in a statement last week.
Associated Press writer Ken Ritter in Las Vegas contributed to this report.
Paul and Julie Page speak to reporters in Las Vegas on Monday, April 15, 2024, while a photo of their daughter Ashley Prince is projected behind them on a screen. Their daughter and her husband, lawyer Dennis Prince, were shot and killed by another attorney on April 8, 2024, during a deposition hearing in an ongoing custody fight for her two young children from a previous marriage. (AP Photo/Rio Yamat)
Law enforcement responds to a shooting Monday, April 8, 2024 at a law office in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
Law enforcement responds to a shooting Monday, April 8, 2024 at a law office in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — One of the winners of a $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot this month is an immigrant from Laos who has had cancer for eight years and had his latest chemotherapy treatment last week.
Cheng “Charlie” Saephan, 46, of Portland, told a news conference held by the Oregon Lottery on Monday that he and his 37-year-old wife, Duanpen, would split the prize evenly with a friend. Laiza Chao, 55, of the Portland suburb of Milwaukie, had chipped in $100 to buy a batch of tickets with them. They are taking a lump sum payment, $422 million after taxes.
“I will be able to provide for my family and my health,” he said, adding that he'd “find a good doctor for myself.”
Saephan, who has two young children, said that as a cancer patient, he wondered, “How am I going to have time to spend all of this money? How long will I live?”
After they bought the shared tickets, Chao sent a photo of the tickets to Saephan and said, “We’re billionaires.” It was a joke before the actual drawing, he said, but the next day it came true.
Saephan said he was born in Laos and moved to Thailand in 1987, before immigrating to the U.S. in 1994. He wore a sash at the news conference identifying himself as Iu Mien, a southeast Asian ethnic group with roots in southern China. Many Iu Mein were subsistence farmers and assisted American forces during the Vietnam war; after the conflict, thousands of Iu Mien families fled to Thailand to avoid retribution and eventually settled in the U.S.
Tens of thousands of Iu Mien people live along the West Coast, with a sizeable and active community in Portland.
Saephan graduated from high school in 1996 and has lived in Portland for 30 years. He worked as a machinist for an aerospace company.
In the weeks leading up to the drawing, he wrote out numbers for the game on a piece of paper and slept with it under his pillow, he said. He prayed that he would win, saying, “I need some help — I don't want to die yet unless I have done something for my family first.”
The winning Powerball ticket was sold in early April at a Plaid Pantry convenience store in Portland, ending a winless streak that had stretched more than three months. The Oregon Lottery said it had to go through a security and vetting process before announcing the identity of the person who came forward to claim the prize.
Under Oregon law, with few exceptions, lottery players cannot remain anonymous. Winners have a year to claim the top prize.
The jackpot had a cash value of $621 million before taxes if the winner chose to take a lump sum rather than an annuity paid over 30 years, with an immediate payout followed by 29 annual installments. The prize is subject to federal taxes and state taxes in Oregon.
The $1.3 billion prize is the fourth largest Powerball jackpot in history, and the eighth largest among U.S. jackpot games, according to the Oregon Lottery.
The biggest U.S. lottery jackpot won was $2.04 billion in California in 2022.
Cheng "Charlie" Saephan holds display check above his head after speaking during a news conference where it was revealed that he was one of the winners of the $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot at the Oregon Lottery headquarters on Monday, April 29, 2024, in Salem, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Images of Cheng "Charlie" Saephan are displayed during a news conference where it was revealed that he was one of the winners of the $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot at the Oregon Lottery headquarters on Monday, April 29, 2024, in Salem, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Cheng "Charlie" Saephan holds display check above his head after speaking during a news conference where it was revealed that he was one of the winners of the $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot at the Oregon Lottery headquarters on Monday, April 29, 2024, in Salem, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Cheng "Charlie" Saephan points to his sash that reads "Iu-Mien USA" while speaking during a news conference after it was revealed that he was one of the winners of the $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot at the Oregon Lottery headquarters, Monday, April 29, 2024, in Salem, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Cheng "Charlie" Saephan laughs while speaking during a press conference after it was revealed that he was one of the winners of the $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot at the Oregon Lottery headquarters on Monday, April 29, 2024, in Salem, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Cheng "Charlie" Saephan holds display check above his head after speaking during a news conference where it was revealed that he was one of the winners of the $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot at the Oregon Lottery headquarters on Monday, April 29, 2024, in Salem, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Cheng "Charlie" Saephan speaks during a press conference after it was revealed that he was one of the winners of the $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot at the Oregon Lottery headquarters on Monday, April 29, 2024, in Salem, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Oregon Lottery External Communications Program Manager Melanie Mesaros holds a list of numbers as Cheng "Charlie" Saephan speaks during a press conference after it was revealed that he was one of the winners of the $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot at the Oregon Lottery headquarters on Monday, April 29, 2024, in Salem, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Cheng "Charlie" Saephan speaks during a press conference after it was revealed that he was one of the winners of the $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot at the Oregon Lottery headquarters on Monday, April 29, 2024, in Salem, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Cheng "Charlie" Saephan laughs while speaking during a press conference after it was revealed that he was one of the winners of the $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot at the Oregon Lottery headquarters on Monday, April 29, 2024, in Salem, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Cheng "Charlie" Saephan holds display check before speaking during a news conference where it was revealed that he was one of the winners of the $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot at the Oregon Lottery headquarters on Monday, April 29, 2024, in Salem, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Cheng "Charlie" Saephan listens to a question from the media during a press conference after it was revealed that he was one of the winners of the $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot at the Oregon Lottery headquarters on Monday, April 29, 2024, in Salem, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Cheng "Charlie" Saephan laughs while speaking during a press conference after it was revealed that he was one of the winners of the $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot at the Oregon Lottery headquarters on Monday, April 29, 2024, in Salem, Ore. Oregon Lottery External Communications Program Manager Melanie Mesaros listens at right. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Cheng "Charlie" Saephan holds a check above his head after speaking during a news conference where it was revealed that he was one of the winners of the $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot at the Oregon Lottery headquarters on Monday, April 29, 2024, in Salem, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Cheng "Charlie" Saephan laughs during a press conference after it was revealed that he was one of the winners of the $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot at the Oregon Lottery headquarters on Monday, April 29, 2024, in Salem, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
FILE - Plaid Pantry President and CEO Jonathan Polonsky speaks with a media member as Oregon Lottery signs are taken down after a news conference outside a Plaid Pantry convenience store on April 9, 2024, in Portland, Ore. Oregon authorities are set to reveal the winner of the $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot. The Oregon Lottery says it will identify the person Monday, April 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, file)
FILE - A Plaid Pantry convenience store is shown, April 9, 2024, in Portland, Ore. Oregon authorities are set to reveal the winner of the $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot. The Oregon Lottery says it will identify the person Monday, April 29, 2024. The winning Powerball ticket was sold at a Plaid Pantry convenience store in Portland in early April. The winner had contacted the Oregon Lottery to claim the prize. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, file)
FILE - The Plaid Pantry convenience store that sold a $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot, the eighth-largest lottery prize in U.S. history, is seen in Portland, Ore., on April 8, 2024. Oregon authorities are set to reveal the winner of the $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot. The Oregon Lottery says it will identify the person Monday, April 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Claire Rush, file)
