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Seven men have been charged in the beating of Preston Lord, a dramatic development in a homicide that has consumed prosecutors and police since the 16-year-old was killed during a Halloween party in Queen Creek.
On Wednesday, a Maricopa County grand jury indicted four people. Queen Creek police arrested three of the men within hours, while the fourth was already in jail on other charges. On Thursday morning, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office confirmed two more arrests in Lord’s death. A seventh was added Thursday night.
The seven people charged in the case:
- William Owen Hines, 18. He’s charged with first-degree murder and/or second-degree murder and kidnapping.
- Talan Renner, 17. He’s charged with first-degree murder and/or second-degree murder and kidnapping.
- Dominic Turner, 20. He’s charged with first-degree murder and/or second-degree murder, aggravated robbery and kidnapping.
- Talyn Vigil, 17. He’s charged with first-degree murder and/or second-degree murder and kidnapping.
- Taylor Sherman, 19. He’s charged with first-degree murder and/or second-degree murder and kidnapping.
- Jacob Meisner, 17. He’s charged with first-degree murder and/or second-degree murder, aggravated robbery and kidnapping.
- Treston Billey, 18. He’s charged with first-degree murder and/or second-degree murder, aggravated robbery and kidnapping.
Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell announced the indictments and arrests of Hines, Renner, Turner and Vigil late Wednesday during a press conference with Queen Creek police Chief Randy Brice.
“This effort on the part of my office, and the Queen Creek Police Department, as well as the Gilbert and Mesa police departments and other partners in the system has been a lengthy, meticulous and thorough investigation and review,” Mitchell said. “Let me be very clear. This investigation and review are not over.”
Additional charges in the case are possible, Mitchell said Wednesday. By Thursday morning, Sherman and Meisner also were charged in Lord’s death. Meisner was already in custody; Sherman was arrested late Wednesday. On Thursday, Billey turned himself in.
The initial six suspects are being held on $1 million bonds, according to Mitchell’s office. It was not clear on Friday if bond was set for Billey.
Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell announced on Wednesday the arrest of four people in the killing of Preston Lord. Two more people were also charged in the case.
Queen Creek Police Department
‘Massive step forward in the quest for justice’
On Dec. 28, Queen Creek police submitted charges against seven suspects to Michell’s office. Prosecutors reviewed more than 2,000 pages of investigative records and more than 2,000 pieces of evidence, including 600 videos, Mitchell said during a Jan. 10 press conference.On Wednesday, Mitchell — who has bristled at withering criticism on social media of her and police over the pace of the investigation — said prosecutors took the case to an investigative grand jury beginning on Feb. 7. Prosecutors also had to wait on the results of Lord’s autopsy, which the Maricopa County Office of the Medical Examiner provided on Feb. 14, Mitchell said. Those two pieces were critical to arresting suspects in Lord’s death, she said.
“What has happened here today is a massive step forward in the quest for justice for Preston Lord,” Mitchell said.
“Too many people have complained that nothing was happening, and the family heard that. To you, I say directly, ‘You could not have been more wrong.’ From the night of the incident, the Queen Creek Police Department has spent hundreds of hours piecing together an extremely complex case that involved dozens of potential players,” she added.
Brice said the arrests were the culmination of efforts by police and prosecutors to “get justice for Preston.”
“This was a Herculean effort on the part of the police department,” Brice said. “We have a very experienced staff that is more than capable of handling these types of investigations, and they’ve done a wonderful job.”
Mitchell said that before the indictments in Lord’s homicide, her office has aggressively pursued charges against people involved in a string of aggravated assault cases in the East Valley — widely known as the Gilbert Goons, which may or may not be a criminal gang. Those include 13 adults facing 40 criminal counts and seven juveniles charged with 14 counts.
Hines is among those charged in the East Valley assault cases. He faces one count of aggravated assault for a Nov. 22, 2022, incident and one count of vehicular aggravated assault from a July 6, 2023, incident.
Renner’s older brother, 19-year-old Kyler, faces one count of aggravated assault in Dec. 3, 2022, case; six drug-related counts from a March 29 traffic stop in Gilbert; and two drug charges from a third incident. When Gilbert police searched the Renner home in January, officers allegedly found drugs and arrested Travis Renner, 50, and Kiara Holsapple, 20, on drug charges. Travis Renner is the father of Kyler and Talan.
