Woman shot to death by husband was denied restraining order

A woman police say was shot to death Wednesday by her husband, who also killed their three children, had filed for and been denied a restraining order three weeks earlier, according to Clark County District Court documents.

In the documents seeking a temporary protection order, Phoukeo Dej-Oudom, 35, cited the fear of losing her children, because “throughout the marriage, the children's lives as well as mine have been threatened.”

Her husband, Jason Dej-Oudom, had in the past pulled guns on her and the children, Anhurak, 9, Xonajuk, 14, and Dalavanh, 15, she said.

Phoukeo Dej-Oudom filed for divorce and temporary custody of the children on May 25, citing domestic violence, records show. She filed for the protection order on June 8.

She said that on June 7, her husband had harassed her in person and over the phone. “He said me not returning home is not an option, and will not accept it (and) also said, ‘if anything were to happen to children, hopes I can live with that.’”

He also told her, “This will not end well,” she said.

The restraining order was denied June 9 because the motion did not meet “statutory requirement,” records show. A court spokeswoman on Tuesday did not reply to a request for comment and explanation for the denial.

Shortly before 7 p.m. on June 29, Metro Police received calls about a woman running through traffic near Torrey Pines Drive and Lake Mead Boulevard.

A good Samaritan picked her up and drove her to a nearby CVS pharmacy, with Jason Dej-Oudom following them in a black car, police said. Jason Dej-Oudom threatened the driver with a gun, dragged his wife to his car and headed east on Lake Mead with his wife partially hanging out a window, police said.

Before reaching Jones Boulevard, Phoukeo Dej-Oudom was able to get out of the car and run, police said. A bystander found her body minutes later, police said.

About 8 p.m., a relative from Ohio contacted Metro, saying Jason Dej-Oudom had called him saying he had done something wrong, describing him as suicidal and distraught, police said.

Police were dispatched to the family’s apartment in the 1900 block of Torrey Pines, where they found Jason Dej-Oudom and the three children dead with gunshot wounds, police said. It wasn’t clear if he killed his children before or after shooting his wife, police said.

Metro Lt. Dan McGrath said last week the family had a history of domestic violence.

In the restraining order application, Phoukeo Dej-Oudom cited a 2005 incident of domestic violence and child abuse out of Columbus, Ohio.

McGrath said police were called to the man’s apartment in June. Details on that case were not immediately available, since it forms part of the homicide investigation, police said late last week.

A custody hearing was scheduled for June 22. Neither the man, the woman nor their counsel appeared before the judge. The court ruled that the case would be dismissed on Aug. 24 if no action were taken.

According to documents, the relationship ended in late March and the woman and the children moved to a northwest valley home with her cousin.

Phoukeo Dej-Oudom wrote that in mid-May her husband showed up to her cousin’s house, “got in front of my face in front of friends and family and knocked a hat off my head.” Afterward, she wrote, her cousin told him he “wasn’t welcome in her home.”

In the June 8 application, Phoukeo Dej-Oudom said her husband did not own a firearm, but that in the past had threatened the family with guns, pointing them at her and her children's heads.

She said there was "danger" for her and her children to be victimized with domestic violence.

Three weeks later, on June 29, Jason Dej-Oudom would go on to shoot each family member in the head before turning the gun on himself — his wife at a north valley Walgreens parking lot and the three children and himself at his nearby apartment complex, police said.

Sudden resignation and family history

Phoukeo Dej-Oudom worked at Sport Clips hair salon and went by the name of Gayle, according to Las Vegas chain manager Taren Olson.

Gayle this year started missing shifts, saying that “a lot” had been going on at home. Then on June 18 she sent a text message saying that she quit and that she was “hiding out from her husband,” Olson said.

Olson said that the salon staff are like family and that news of their co-worker’s slaying is “devastating,” noting that some staff members are “having a hard time.”

She will be “greatly missed. It’s a hard time for the Sport Clips family. We’re all going to remember how great she was and the energy she brought to the team,” Olson said, adding that co-workers are looking at ways to help domestic violence victims.

Records show the couple were together for about 20 years, married in Columbus in 2000 and the family moved to Las Vegas about a year before the separation.

The children last attended Culley Elementary, Escobedo Middle School and Brinley Middle Schools, the Clark County School District said last week.

“What we have tonight is a tragedy for this community, for Las Vegas,” McGrath said in the hours after the bodies were discovered.