Maricopa County prosecutors announced that three teenagers and a 20-year-old man have been charged in the death of a 16-year-old Arizona boy who was severely assaulted outside a Halloween party last year.
The beating of 16-year-old Preston Lord, who was found on the street in Queen Creek on October 28 and died two days later, is the latest police response to gang violence by teenagers in the city and other nearby cities. There were growing calls for further action.
“These four charges are just the beginning,” Queen Creek Police Chief Randy Blythe said at a press conference. He said police authorities were working to make more arrests.
The defendants, William Owen Hines, 18, Dominic Turner, 20, and two 17-year-old boys, are all charged with first- or second-degree murder and Maricopa kidnapping. He has been indicted. County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said. Turner is also charged with robbery.
All four people charged in Preston's death are being charged as adults, Mitchell said. NBC News is not publishing the 17-year-old's name because he is a minor.
Mitchell described the investigation as “extremely complex” and said it included thousands of pages of police reports and about 600 videos.
Police said Preston was found in the road at about 9:49 p.m. on Oct. 28 after officers were dispatched to the area for a report of a juvenile disturbance. The man was taken to the hospital, but died two days later.
According to police, when the first call was made at around 9:07 p.m., officers saw a number of juveniles leaving, but they saw no illegal activity and went to take another call.
Last month, the coroner issued a final report finding Preston's cause of death a homicide. Authorities have not released the cause of death.
The criminal case does not appear to be in Maricopa County's online court records, and it was unclear whether the defendant had an attorney who could argue on his behalf. Mr. Hines' attorneys in the other two cases said they were not representing him in the murder case.
“We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the members of the community who came forward with information that helped us secure an arrest,” Preston's parents, Nick Lord and Autumn Curiel, said in a statement distributed by their attorneys. I will represent it.”
“However, with the concerted efforts of law enforcement and the valuable cooperation of local residents, these arrests would not have occurred,” they said. “Each arrest represents a step towards accountability and justice for our son Preston.”
An investigative grand jury has been reviewing the case since Feb. 7, Mitchell said. Queen Creek police arrested three of the four suspects after the indictment was returned Wednesday. Hines is already in custody, according to his office.
In the wake of Preston's death and other assaults, police in the neighboring city of Gilbert are investigating past incidents of gang violence, including a gang investigation into a group known as the “Gilbert Goons.”
Gilbert Police Chief Michael Solberg and other officials said none of the four had ties to such groups.
Sohlberg said Wednesday that there are 12 active investigations into teen gang assaults in Gilbert after the indictment in the Lord case was announced.
Hines is the only one of the four suspects facing criminal charges in Gilbert as adults. He has three cases of aggravated assault, two of which allegedly occurred earlier but were not reported until December and January, Solberg said.
Community outrage over Preston's death has sparked a kind of alarm online, Solberg said in January, with false information posted online about people unrelated to the case.
Solberg said at the time that an innocent 17-year-old was accused of murder and threatened after someone posted the wrong address online.
Mitchell said such behavior continues.
“To all those who continue to post countless unsubstantiated and ill-informed theories on social media, please pause and consider the impact you may have had on this family over the past few months,” Mitchell said. I want you to think about it and evaluate it.” , noted that the Lord family is “suffering” from the loss of their child.