The family of Nancianne Houston, the woman killed in a double stabbing in Edgewater this year, was awarded custody of her daughter after filing an emergency petition Friday, hours after Houston’s husband was charged with her murder.

“The undersigned believes that the minor child is in imminent risk of harm remaining with Defendant’s girlfriend at this time in the residence where the incident occurred,” the decision read.

The child was at school at the time of James Houston’s arrest, and she was picked up after school by his girlfriend and brought to the apartment where Nancianne Houston died.

“Our immediate concern is for the minor child, who needs to be insulated from this tragic event,” attorney Samuel J. Brown said in a statement.

Authorities arrested Dr. James Houston at his waterfront apartment Friday morning, nearly two months after police found him in the same apartment draped over his wife in a pool of blood. According to charging documents, James Houston told authorities the couple, who were in the throes of divorce, attacked each other with kitchen knives during an argument.

Nancianne Houston, who suffered several wounds across her body, was immediately pronounced dead, police said, while James Houston was taken to Baltimore for emergency surgery. He was then placed in an induced coma, according to his attorneys.

Nancianne Houston, 47, died on James Houston’s 58th birthday.

James Houston’s involvement was not confirmed by police for seven weeks until Friday. However, earlier this month, Nancianne’s family launched a legal battle to disqualify him as a trustee to her estate.

Nancianne Houston’s sister Amelia Rando, the estate’s successor after James Houston, filed a petition Sept. 10 to prevent him from inheriting his wife’s assets. Rando argued the doctor killed her sister “feloniously and intentionally” for financial gain.

On Aug. 9, James Houston called 911 operators and said he and Nancianne Houston had stabbed each other several times. He told them she was not breathing and that he was close to passing out.

When officers arrived at his apartment along the South River, they found her dead with multiple stab wounds and him unresponsive but alive.

A detective described the Houstons’ divorce in charging documents as “contentious,” involving the custody of their daughter and millions of dollars in assets.

Their separation was preceded by a peace order Nancianne Houston filed against her husband in March 2023. She accused him of throwing a drink in her face and said he started sending scandalous emails to her co-workers soon after.

“James’ behavior is extremely irrational and unhinged and I fear for the safety of my daughter and I,” Nancianne Houston wrote in her petition. “I absolutely do not want to be alone with him.”

After her death, Rando and their mother moved to Maryland to care for the couple’s 10-year-old daughter, who had been living with Nancianne Houston, court filings show.

James Houston was receiving treatment in a hospital until Aug. 14. However, from his medical facility, he ordered Rando and her family to turn custody of his child over to his girlfriend, according to an affidavit signed by Rando this month.

After that, the young girl lived in the apartment where her mother died for an unknown period of time, the family said, and the relatives were ordered to leave Nancianne Houston’s residence in Edgewater. Though she was living in the home during the divorce, the couple purchased the property together in 2020, according to state records.

Since Aug. 22, Nancianne Houston’s family has had no in-person contact with her daughter, Brown said.

“It is believed that James Strachan Houston intends to remove Nancianne Houston’s family from his daughter’s life and to benefit financially from as much of [her] estate as possible,” Rando stated in the affidavit.

Rando filed a petition in Anne Arundel Circuit Court earlier this month to declare James Houston a disqualified person, which would bar him from inheriting Nancianne Houston’s assets.

The husband’s lawyers countered, arguing he had not been criminally charged at that time.

A temporary restraining order blocking James Houston from the assets was extended Tuesday, according to the Maryland Judiciary. A hearing in the civil case is scheduled for Monday morning in Annapolis. James Houston’s bail review hearing is scheduled that same afternoon in Glen Burnie.

James Houston’s lawyers did not respond to requests for comment Friday.