Queen Creek police seek charges against 7 teens, adults in death of Preston Lord
Queen Creek police are seeking criminal charges against seven "adults and juveniles" in the beating death of 16-year-old Preston Lord.
Department officials confirmed Thursday they made multiple criminal referrals to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office. The county attorney will review the submissions and determine who should be charged and for what.
The criminal referrals come two months to the day after Lord was attacked and left lying in the street during a Halloween party in an upscale Queen Creek neighborhood. He died two days later, on Oct. 30.
'We still have more work to do': Gilbert marchers seek justice in Preston Lord murder case
"The Queen Creek Police Department can confirm charges were submitted to the Maricopa County Attorney against seven individuals," Queen Creek police Chief Randy Brice said in a statement.
"While charges have been submitted, the investigation continues, and the public is encouraged to submit any new tips to https://p3tips.com/952. I want to reiterate that our focus continues to be getting justice for Preston Lord."
Police officials provided no details on whom they were seeking charges against.
The Maricopa County Attorney's Office on Thursday confirmed receiving the referrals.
"We got them this afternoon," chief of staff Jeanine L'Ecuyer said. "We will begin reviewing them to make charging decisions."
Once the review is completed, charges could follow, or individual cases could be sent back to the Queen Creek police for further investigation. This is routine procedure in many criminal cases.
Brass knuckles, beatings, fear: Random attacks on teens loom over Preston Lord murder case
Parents, students and activists in Gilbert, Queen Creek and San Tan Valley say Lord was the victim of a gang of affluent teenagers known as the "Gilbert Goons."
An investigation by The Arizona Republic found the Goons recorded themselves carrying out random assaults in mall parking lots, outside fast-food restaurants, at parks and at house parties. The Goons had engaged in a string of blitz-style attacks on other teens in the southeast Valley for more than a year, according to interviews, court and police records, and social media posts.
Gilbert, which in early December publicized its ranking as the second-safest big city in the U.S., was a hub for Goons' attacks, according to reports by victims and their families. But Gilbert police never connected the assaults, even those in the same location, to the Goons or any other group.
L'Ecuyer said The Republic's coverage has heightened awareness of the attacks among southeast Valley police departments.
"We have activated our prosecutorial teams to watch for similar types of cases," she said. "An awful lot of the conversation in our office is about what can we do ... is there more we can do."
Halloween party attack leads to severe injury, death
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.
Lord went to a Halloween party with friends who say he was jumped by multiple teenagers. 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 Phoenix Children’s Hospital with a severe brain injury, his family said in a message on GoFundMe.
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.
At the crime scene: 'Gilbert Goon' girlfriend recounts deadly Halloween party
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.
The response to his death grew from grief to frustration, even outrage, that no arrests were made. As part of a grassroots movement called #Justice4Preston, community members staged a 2-mile march in November and increasingly demanded answers from town officials.
Community members, family and friends of Lord were to march together Thursday night in Gilbert to mark the two-month anniversary of the attack that led to his death and to acknowledge other attacks by the Goons.
During the weeks when police provided little information, people turned to social media for answers.
One of the primary sources was a Facebook page in the name of Lily Waterfield. It 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.
"I am speechless. This is amazing. It is what we've been after," said Kristine Brennan, one of two Lily Waterfield creators. "We're so happy that it's moving in the right direction. We can't wait for the arrests."
Preston Lord's aunt, Melissa Lord, shared The Republic's investigation on social media and said in mid-December she was grateful for the report.
"It's everything we haven't been able to say," Lord said in a video on Instagram.
She said the family has been receiving information for weeks about the Goons but had refrained from sharing it.
"We've been getting this information for the last six weeks and haven't been able to say anything because we don't want to hurt the case in any way," she said. "So I'm glad it's out there, and people can start hopefully putting the pieces together."
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.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Police seek charges against 7 teens, adults in Preston Lord death
