Records: Vegas mom feared for herself, children in divorce

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Las Vegas mom who police say was shot dead by her estranged husband, who also killed their three children and himself, lost a bid for a restraining order to keep the man away, according to court records.

The picture emerging Wednesday following the June 29 slayings of Phoukeo Dej-Oudom, the children ages 9 to 15, and the suicide of Jason Hagan Dej-Odoum, shows the mom known to hair salon co-workers as Gayle feared an attack after filing for divorce on May 25.

The divorce filing said the couple married in July 2000 in Columbus, Ohio. It alleged there had been domestic violence and noted that child protective services was involved. Phoukeo Dej-Oudom represented herself without an attorney.

Phoukeo Dej-Oudom sought a protection order June 8, in a handwritten filing that said her husband harassed her in person and by text message a day earlier, warning her, "This will not end well."

"Throughout the marriage, the children's lives as well as mine have been threatened," Phoukeo Dej-Oudom, 35, wrote. She noted the threats were made when "when we were all living in Ohio." The family moved to Las Vegas in March 2015.

"He said me not returning home is not an option," Phoukeo Dej-Oudom wrote, "and ... 'if anything were to happen to children, hopes I can live with that.'"

On June 9, Clark County Family Court Hearing Master Amy Mastin recommended the request for a stay-away order be rejected.

A statement issued Wednesday through a court spokeswoman said the application cited "situations in Ohio ... between 2000 and 2007 involving the father and guns, but nothing had recently occurred in Las Vegas."

"With the benefit of hindsight, it is arguable that the (temporary protection order) should have been ordered," the statement said.

Sport Clips chain manager Taren Olson told the Las Vegas Sun (http://bit.ly/29kwdLS ) that Phoukeo Dej-Oudom quit work June 18 with a message saying she was hiding from her husband.

No one appeared for a June 22 court hearing in the divorce case. A week later, the family was dead.

Police say Jason Dej-Odoum chased and killed his wife after a passing motorist spotted Phoukeo Dej-Oudom screaming for help in the street near her northwest Las Vegas home and gave her a ride to a nearby pharmacy.

The motorist told police that Jason Dej-Oudom followed and dragged his wife into his car at gunpoint before she escaped and started running.

Phoukeo Dej-Oudom was shot and killed outside another drug store, about a half-mile away.

Police say a family relative reported about 30 minutes later that Jason Dej-Oudom was at home and suicidal.

Jason Dej-Oudom was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot, and police also found the bodies of daughter Dalavanh Ariel Dej-Oudom, and sons Xonajuk J.J. Dej-Oudom and Anhurak Jason Dej-Oudom.