Brass knuckles, beatings, fear: Random attacks on teens loom over Preston Lord murder case

Police are not saying much about who beat 16-year-old Preston Lord and left his battered body on the side of a suburban street.

Students at high schools in Gilbert, Queen Creek and San Tan Valley say they know who killed him. Their parents say they know why: Lord's murder was tied to a gang of serial assaulters.

They say he was the latest victim in a string of vicious, blitz-style attacks by a group of affluent teenagers known as the "Gilbert Goons," who cow their targets into silence with threats and intimidation.

The "Goonies," as they sometimes call themselves, have for more than a year carried out random assaults on teenagers in mall parking lots, outside fast-food restaurants, at parks and at house parties, according to interviews, court and police records and social media posts.

Their attacks have become increasingly violent. They hit teens, kick them and beat them with brass knuckles, and they put at least one boy in the hospital last year with a cracked skull, records show.

In pleas to the police, emails to school officials, posts in group chats and during public meetings, concerned residents describe the Goons as "a gang" of 20 or more, mostly white, upper-middle-class teenagers from multiple East Valley high schools.

Individual Goons can be linked to one another through social media posts, police reports and attack videos. The same faces that appear in clips of beatings and assaults also show up on Snapchat and Instagram posts, posing with guns and other weapons, driving recklessly and getting arrested.

Nothing links the victims other than the Goons. The victims don't know each other, live in the same neighborhoods or go to the same schools. No race-based motive appears to exist for the attacks ― or any particular motive at all. One Goon told police he just wanted to assault strangers.

Southeast Valley parents say the Goons have put their communities under siege. Their kids are afraid of being targeted at school, home and work. Mothers of victims say they dread retaliatory assaults.

All point fingers at authorities, who they claim knew about the Goons' attacks long before Lord was killed and failed to act. Now, more than a month after his death, some residents question publicly if the Goons are being protected because of their parents' influence and money or if they will face justice.

Lord's aunt, Melissa Lord, spoke directly to these concerns during a Nov. 28 march that ended at Queen Creek police headquarters.

"It's also been a month since a group of boys decided to beat my nephew and leave him on the side of the road and go home like nothing happened," she said. "It's been a month since the parents of these boys have chosen to live a life of silence while we've been living a real-life nightmare."

Queen Creek police acknowledged the department is "aware" of the Goons and "allegations of incidents committed in other jurisdictions." But officials will not elaborate on what role, if any, the Goons had in Lord's murder.

An investigation by The Arizona Republic has documented at least seven attacks involving the Goons in the past year. The parents of four victims talked about assaults on their sons, their trauma and guilt over Lord's death — and their concern more children will be injured or killed as the Goons' assaults escalate.

"I guarantee you, in a couple of months, there's going to be another death," said Lori Nitzen, whose 16-year-old son was beaten unconscious at a Dec. 17, 2022, party in Gilbert. "It's getting worse; the kid who died proves that."

Nitzen said she is frustrated by law enforcement and the apparent impunity of the Goons.

"I don't know why these kids are still on the street," she told The Republic. "The cops know who these kids are. ... It's crazy. The law isn't doing anything."

The Republic is not naming victims. Nor is it naming individual Goons, even in cases where they were convicted of assaults and other crimes, because they are underage. None has been charged or identified by authorities as suspects in Lord's murder.

Video and photos reviewed by The Republic show the brutality of the Goons' attacks. A video, shot in front of the Gilbert In-N-Out Burger in December 2022 and posted on social media, shows how swiftly they strike, swarming a victim before he can react.

The herky-jerky video pans a crowd of teenagers as a girl screams; a fistfight is captured to the right of the screen before the camera focuses on a boy being dragged and pushed backward by two boys while a third punches him in the face.

Two assailants take turns hitting the victim in the face as he is smashed into the side of the car. A voice can be heard saying, "Let me get back in the action."

The victim is shown struggling with one of his primary attackers. Then a new attacker strides up behind the victim and delivers seven kidney shots as another wades in and appears to hit the victim in the side of the head.

The video lasts 26 seconds. The victim was hit at least 23 times. Some of the assailants in the video are identifiable as Goons from other social media posts and individual accounts.

The Gilbert In-N-Out parking lot was the site of at least four attacks in the past year, interviews and records show. A restaurant manager said police frequently are called to quell crowds of teenagers, but he was unaware of any assaults.

Gilbert is a nexus for many of the attacks, according to reports by victims and their families. But Gilbert police officials said they have not connected the assaults to the Goons or any other group.

Even in cases where assaults occurred in the same location, police say they haven't linked the cases together. When two teenagers were assaulted by groups in separate attacks, police arrested a single Goon, who was prosecuted individually. His case involved one of the In-N-Out assaults.

"We do not have documented incidents associated with that group name," officials said in a statement. "Gilbert PD has investigated all reported incidents and taken the proper actions to ensure any concerning behaviors or trends are addressed promptly."

Katey McPherson, a former teacher and school counselor turned community organizer, has led rallies in Lord's name. She said the assaults are part of a disturbing pattern.

McPherson has helped to identify victims of past assaults and link their families with authorities investigating Lord's death. She has used social media to identify Goons and cross-reference them to assaults.

She said she believes Goons were involved in Lord's death but doubts they set out to kill him. “This is their thing. It’s what they do. They do this every weekend," she said, adding later: "Does this now qualify as a gang?"

Halloween party attack leads to 1st homicide for Queen Creek police

Lord died two days after being attacked during a Halloween party Oct. 28 in Queen Creek.

Several kids at the party tried to administer CPR in an effort to keep Lord breathing as his body lay motionless in the street.

Emergency crews were able to restart his heart at the scene, and he was rushed to Chandler Regional Hospital and later transferred to Phoenix Children’s Hospital.

Lord was in extremely critical condition with a severe brain injury, his family said in a message on GoFundMe. He died Oct. 30.

The scene outside the sprawling ranch homes was chaotic in the hours before Lord was killed. Hundreds of teenagers showed up uninvited to the party, spread by word-of-Instagram and other social media. At least two calls were made to police.

Officers arrived at 194th Street and Via del Oro about 9 p.m. after a report of a "juvenile disturbance." They saw the teenagers but apparently didn't see the party and said they did not notice any illegal activity.

Officers were called out of the neighborhood to respond to a "high priority" domestic violence report, officials said. But they were back 49 minutes later after receiving a 911 call about an assault just a few houses away from the first call.

That's when they found Lord.

Lord was a popular student at Combs High School in nearby San Tan Valley, where he served on the student council and played basketball, football and golf.

More than 100 people participated in a Nov. 9 vigil for Lord at the school. Dozens of lit candles lined the floor of the school's courtyard as Lord's friends and family shared anecdotes, remembering him as kind and considerate, someone they looked up to.

But grief has steadily turned into frustration, even outrage, as the investigation proceeds in its second month with no arrests and scant updates from police. As part of a grassroots movement called #Justice4Preston, community members staged a 2-mile march in November and are increasingly demanding answers from town officials.

Their efforts prompted Queen Creek Mayor Julia Wheatley to open the Dec. 6 Town Council meeting by declaring the town was committed to an investigation that would lead to an arrest and conviction.

Preston Lord case: Queen Creek police say they are working to gather 'proof beyond a reasonable doubt'

Lord's murder is the nascent department's first homicide investigation. In November, police Chief Randy Brice sought the assistance of the FBI, which has offered a $10,000 reward for information in the case.

Brice reiterated the mayor's mantra that "an arrest is not enough." He said at the Dec. 6 meeting that more than 59 search warrants so far have been served in the investigation, which he described as complex. He said it could be months before the Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office issues its own report on Lord's death.

Brice also appeared to chastise people for posting claims of assault on social media without reporting them to authorities. He said victims of crime have a responsibility to come forward: “Posting on social media is not reporting to the police."

Snapchat confession in Lord's case? 'I got word he died so idk'

Days after Lord died, a chillingly banal message that could be read as a confession was posted on a Snapchat account under the name of a Goon member. A screenshot of the post has circulated widely on social media.

"I hit a kid and this kid feel hit his head and then they kicked his head in the ground then i got word he died so idk," the post read. IDK is textspeak for "I don't know."

The Republic could not verify the authenticity of the post. The teenager and his parents did not respond to multiple interview requests about it.

The IDK post hit Michelle Hirschi and her 16-year-old son like gut punches. Just six days before Lord was killed, she said, the Goon who made the post had attacked her son in downtown Gilbert.

The beating was not a group assault, nor was it as violent as others. The Goon dragged her son off his bike and "beat him up," Hirschi said. Her son begged her not to report it for fear of retaliation. Seeing only bruises, Hirschi ceded to his wishes.

Then came the IDK post. Hirschi said her son, visibly shaken, showed her a screenshot of it. The same boy who had punched her son now appeared to be admitting his role in a murder.

Hirschi said she immediately called Queen Creek police to report her son's assault.

"They told me detectives would call me and interview my son," she said. The return phone call never came. "I called them a total of five times. ... It is just crazy."

Queen Creek police maintain they have had no reports related to assaults by Goons in their jurisdiction. They would not address Hirschi's claims, saying they do not have a record of her reporting an assault. "QCPD has not investigated any previous incidents in Queen Creek involving this group," officials said in a statement.

Hirschi said she had never heard of the Goons prior to Lord's murder. She knew the teenager who made the IDK post because her son went to school with him years ago. But she has learned plenty since, and it frightens her.

The impact it has had on Hirschi's son is devastating. He questions if Lord's death could have been prevented if he had reported his own assault, Hirschi said.

"He doesn't want to talk about it," she said. "And he hasn't left the house much."

Police shut down wealthy Gilbert enclave to search homes

For residents in the wealthy Gilbert enclave of Whitewing, the afternoon of Nov. 6 was like something out of a movie.

Police descended on the gated community near the Latter-day Saints' Gilbert Arizona Temple with automatic weapons, an armored vehicle and evidence vans. The carefully manicured solitude enjoyed by residents whose homes sell for upward of $1 million was shattered.

Streets were shut down for hours. Children watched googly-eyed from behind windows as black-clad officers positioned themselves around the neighborhood and executed multiple search warrants.

Officers, led by Queen Creek police, targeted four homes, according to their neighbors. Police escorted residents from their homes, letting them sit on curbs as investigators carried out heavy paper evidence bags.

If there was any doubt about the nature of the searches, the close-knit community quickly generated answers. Several teenagers living in Whitewing told their parents what was up; they had attended the party where Lord was killed and knew what the searches were about. Word spread.

The Republic verified the four addresses where searches took place through interviews and photographs provided by neighbors. The names of four boys living in the homes correspond to social media posts connected to members of the Goons. None has been charged in Lord's death.

The mother of one of the boys sat numbly on the curb as police came in and out of the family's home.

"She was despondent. ... I offered her water. She said, 'No.' She wouldn't say anything to us," said April Yarger, who lives across the small street from one of the boys.

Her husband, Sean Yarger, who was blocked from going to his house until the evidence vans cleared out, said the neighborhood has long lived with the threat posed by the boys.

But neither he nor April had heard the name Gilbert Goons until after the searches. They just considered the boys a gang of kids who acted like thugs.

Sean described them as neighborhood bullies who scared and harassed other kids, taking their bikes and confronting them in neighborhood parks.

"They were always picking fights. ... We told our kids to stay away from them," April said. "Different parents told their (the Goons') parents they better deal with them."

The Yargers said the Goons weren't violent when they were younger, but violence was part of some of their lives. Police were repeatedly called to the house across the street, they said.

Police and court records obtained by The Republic show the father of the boy across the street was once arrested and accused of domestic violence. His wife filed a restraining order in 2018 alleging threats, alcoholism, unchecked rage and abuse. She later filed for divorce but lifted the restraining order.

Sean said what happened to the kids living there was sad.

"We don't want any violent elements in our neighborhood," he said.

April echoed: "We want our neighborhood to be safe, and we want justice for Preston's family."

Who is Lily Waterfield? Facebook page becomes hub for justice

In the vacuum created by the lack of official police information on the Lord case, parents turned to social media for answers.

A Facebook page in the name of Lily Waterfield became a virtual hub of community conversation; hundreds of people posted their theories and their fears and tried to connect the dots between past attacks and the people involved.

The Waterfield page emerged from the anonymity of cyberspace three weeks after Lord's murder with a single purpose. It branded itself with an orange banner (Lord's favorite color), Lord's picture and a #Justice4Preston logo.

Its history shows only two posts prior to Nov. 19, both pictures: a sunset and a dog.

The Waterfield page was relentless in calling out the Goons. The page posted links to businesses belonging to the parents of teenagers they implicated in Lord's attack. It called for boycotts, pressed police for answers and called out school officials it believed had turned a blind eye to violence perpetrated by students.

The site zeroed in on American Leadership Academy, where one of the Goons attended school at a Gilbert campus. It accused administrators of protecting an attacker.

ALA, which operates charter schools in Arizona and the southeast United States, delivered a cease and desist letter to the Waterfield page in November via Facebook Messenger.

"You have libelously defamed ALA on social media platforms, making numerous false statements alleging illegal or improper conduct," school officials claimed in the PDF.

Waterfield responded with a laughing emoji.

Amateur detectives used Waterfield as a repository for their sleuthing. They scoured social media accounts belonging to individual Goons, capturing posts that were later deleted. They identified Goons they believed were suspects in Lord's death. They traded tips and stories and outrage.

Lily Waterfield is not a real person. It is the brainchild of two Gilbert mothers, Kristine Brennan and Angela Rogers, who say they felt compelled to act — to create a space where people could both pay respects and help get answers to Lord's death.

If the police were tight-lipped about the case, Waterfield could be a bullhorn, the women said.

"We did it because we want Gilbert to be a safe place," Brennan said. "And social media is a very powerful tool."

The former farming communities of Gilbert, Queen Creek and San Tan Valley are now better known for master-planned communities and sleepy subdivisions. Spanish tiles and three-car garages have replaced orchards and cattle ranches.

A housing boom in the past two decades has pushed the median household income to more than $88,000, well above the state median. More than 62% of residents are white or non-Hispanic.

After its launch, the Waterfield page was inundated with posts from people claiming to know who killed Lord. Brennan and Rogers said they were getting messages about attacks they had never seen reported by police or in the media — and about the Gilbert Goons.

"The Goons grew to be a beast. It was deeper and scarier than we imagined," Brennan said. "This thing went 20 to 30 kids deep. There had been violent attacks for years. We didn't know how big it was."

Brennan and Rogers said the stories pouring in shared consistencies: common locations, the same styles of attack, the same individuals named.

"What surprised me was how extreme these kids have become," Brennan said. "Flaunting clips on social media, bragging about beating kids, tagging police in videos."

Parents were so scared they weren't reporting assaults to the police, Brennan and Rogers said. But Waterfield could make sure authorities heard about it.

"I'm a little different than the mom of a child who got attacked," Brennan said. "I don't have to worry about retaliation. ... I don't have to be scared."

Rogers said she sees the Facebook page as part of her community commitment.

"I am a mom of four children," she said. "I believe moms have a duty to speak the truth and protect all children."

Rogers said she is angry at police and some school officials for their failure to act.

"I have a duty to let other parents know," she said. "When one mom’s voice is broken in grief, we rise to speak for her. Protect our children; protect our kids. It’s why I chose to live in Gilbert, Queen Creek and raise my children here."

Gilbert Goon assault: 'He felt blood gushing down his neck'

Stephanie Jarnagan had no undue reason to fear for her son's safety until she received a call that he had been attacked and beaten. He was badly hurt and needed emergency treatment that required staples in his skull.

The Dec. 30, 2022, attack occurred outside the Gilbert In-N-Out at San Tan Village Parkway and East Williams Field Road. It was dinnertime, about 6:30 p.m. The 16-year-old sophomore was hanging out with a friend, leaning against his car and listening to music.

Jarnagan said a group of teenagers approached him; one demanded $20. When her son refused, Jarnagan said, the teenager told her son they would just take his car.

Fearful his car would be stolen, Jarnagan said her son turned to grab his keys and felt something smash into the back of his head. He was stunned and turned around to see the boy who threatened him holding brass knuckles.

"He felt blood gushing down his neck," Jarnagan said. "He just threw whatever money he had at them, got in his car, and drove across the street to Dick's Sporting Goods. That's where he called for help."

Jarnagan said at the time she had never heard of the Gilbert Goons. She said officers who responded told her son and husband that there had been at least three similar assaults at the same In-N-Out in just a couple of months.

Jarnagan's son is not the victim in the 26-second video.

"The only reason we are even willing to relive this nightmare is because there has not been a single night since learning about what happened on October 28th that I have not thought about Preston Lord and his family," she said. "What occurred was inhumane, evil and unfathomable really, and I can’t help but think that just as easily could have been my son. It could have been anyone’s son."

By sharing their story, Jarnagan said, she hopes it will make other parents realize they are not alone in the fight for justice.

"The attack on my son — and most of these incidents, as I understand it — were completely random," she said. "(He) had no connection to any of the boys involved. There was no provocation on his part, no beef between them. He simply was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He is an honors student and athlete who was basically blindsided by this act of violence."

Jarnagan said the only reason the teenager who struck her son was caught was because other teenagers compiled evidence of the attack on social media that they were able to turn over to police.

"There are teens who know the boys involved in the Gilbert Goons, and they spoke up," Jarnagan said. "Without those teens coming forward and sharing the information they did, the state likely wouldn’t have had enough evidence to prosecute."

But she said she is still troubled that about a dozen other kids involved in the attack on her son "got off scot-free."

Court records obtained by The Republic show the Goon who attacked Jarnagan's son bragged on Snapchat about it: "I already beat somenone's ass tn" and "he wouldn't give me his car so I punched him in the back of his head and he gave me $20.00." In another post, he posed with a shotgun.

Court records show the same teenager was also responsible for the brass knuckle attack on Nitzen's son less than two weeks earlier at the Gilbert party. Authorities described both attacks as "vicious."

The teenager was charged with aggravated robbery and aggravated assault in the two cases. He was detained for more than three months before being placed on probation.

Neither the teenager nor his parents could be reached for comment.

A report filed in Maricopa County Superior Court in April noted the teenager acknowledged "multiple instances of leaving the home with the plan to assault people for no reason."

Authorities noted that in another Snapchat post, the teenager "discussed going on a cop killing spree." In it, he wrote: "We've planned this and suicide by cop is the true way to go."

During sentencing, the teenager apologized to the Jarnagan and Nitzen families, records show. Jarnagan said her son forgave him.

No links cited: Queen Creek police chief says no evidence connecting recent, violent teen deaths

Teen sent overseas to escape Gilbert Goons: 'They stole his shoes'

Richard Kuehner said he doesn't know how his son ran afoul of the Goons. But in August, just a few weeks after the 16-year-old enrolled at Perry High School in Gilbert, a group of them showed up at his front door ready to deliver a beating.

His son had already talked about being threatened by two kids. Kuehner said he reached out to school officials for a meeting with the parents of the boys. Administrators told him the parents declined.

A week later, Kuehner said, a group of kids pulled up to their house, including the two who had threatened his son.

Kuehner was out walking the dog when his son texted him that the kids were at the house. When the kids saw Kuehner coming, they scrambled into their cars and tore off down the street.

A week later, on Aug. 18, Kuehner said his son went to grab a burger at the Gilbert In-N-Out with a friend. Kuehner said they had barely arrived when a pickup truck pulled up, and a bunch of kids jumped out. Goons, Kuehner said.

His son did not know them, Kuehner said. They confronted his son with a bunch of questions: his name, where his dad worked, what kind of car his dad drove.

Whatever answers his son gave didn't matter, Kuehner said; they laid into him. Kuehner said his son ran back to his car, but about five kids went after him and tackled him. Kuehner said he knows what happened because he later saw a video of it. One of the Goons apparently filmed the attack, he said.

"My son was in the fetal position on the ground, and they were kicking him and stomping on him," Kuehner said. "They stole his shoes.”

Kuehner said when his son arrived home, he was bleeding all over the place and was visibly shaken. His son had to go to the emergency room, and Kuehner racked up a $14,000 bill.

Kuehner said he filed a report with Gilbert police. He learned about the video, he said, when it was sent to a police officer assigned to Perry High School, and Kuehner was asked to verify his son was in the video. He said police told him the video was sent to officers at East Valley high schools to see if they could recognize any of the kids.

Gilbert police confirmed receiving a report of an Aug. 18 assault at In-N-Out. The department lists the case as "inactive pending additional investigative leads."

The threats against his son kept coming, Kuehner said. It got so bad, he said, that his son did not feel safe leaving the house.

Kuehner ultimately decided to withdraw his son from school and send him overseas to live with his mom — a place where he could feel safe and get help. He said his son suffers from post-traumatic stress as a result of the incident.

“That’s what frustrates me," Kuehner said. "My son has suffered and had to change his whole life as a young man because of these kids. And they just go on like nothing happened, and they’ll probably do it again.”

Kuehner said he learned about the Goons after his son's attack. His son showed him social media posts about other Goon attacks. When Kuehner heard about the details of Lord's murder, he thought, “God, it’s gotta be the same kids," he said.

Kuehner said he wants justice, not just for his son but for all of the victims. He wants the entire community to stand up, to demand accountability from law enforcement and city officials.

Something must be done, he said.

“I’m not going to let a bunch of 17-year-olds run this town," he said. "That’s ridiculous."

Robert Anglen is an investigative reporter for The Republic. Reach him at robert.anglen@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8694. Follow him on X @robertanglen.

Reach reporter Elena Santa Cruz at elena.santacruz@gannett.com or 480-466-2265. Follow her on X at @ecsantacruz3.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Gilbert Goons' random attacks surface after Preston Lord's murder