Harrowing 911 calls reveal teens’ horror after Preston Lord was fatally beaten in Halloween party attack linked to ‘Gilbert Goons’ who have been terrorizing Arizona suburbs
Harrowing 911 calls from the night 16-year-old Preston Lord was beaten to death at a Halloween party reveal the chaos unleashed by a gang of teenagers with ties to a gang that has terrorized Arizona’s suburbs for years.
Preston died a day after he was found on a road in the Phoenix suburb of Queen Creek after police say he was brutally attacked by at least 15 masked assailants at the Oct. 28 party.
During one call, a sobbing boy told the dispatcher that one of his friends had a broken wrist and another was lying unconscious on the ground, adding that there were at least 15 attackers wearing ski masks, according to a police report obtained by The Arizona Republic.
‘I’m afraid. I don’t know what to do,” said the terrified boy. ‘Are there people on the way? I need them to get here. I don’t want my friend to die.’
In another call, a teen says trained lifeguards performed CPR on Preston, who he said had been vomiting and had a weak pulse. The caller added that Preston had not been breathing for two minutes.
Preston Lord, 16, was left to die on a Queen Creek road outside Phoenix after being attacked at the party on October 28 and suffering critical injuries
Taylor Sherman (left) Dominic Turner (center), William Owen Hines top (right) have been charged with murder and kidnapping
Treston Biley (left) and Talyn Vigil (right) have also been charged in Preston’s murder
Police say suspect Talan Renner was taken out of town after the murder
Residents of the neighborhood where the party took place had called 911 in the hours before the tragedy occurred, saying the gathering was getting out of hand and even warning that “people were going to get hurt.”
One desperate woman told the dispatcher, “I haven’t seen any Queen Creek police anywhere in our neighborhood. There are no police here… unless those officers are hidden in the bushes.”
Police responded to the scene about 30 feet away for a “youth disturbance” but left shortly afterwards, saying they saw no illegal activity and were directed to another “high priority” call.
At 9:49 p.m., police responded to a call about an attack a few of the party’s houses and found Preston unconscious in the road.
It took months before police were able to charge Preston’s suspected killers: Talan Renner, 17, Dominic Turner, 20, Talyn Vigil, 19, Taylor Sherman, 19, and Jacob Meisner, 17, William Hines, 18, and Treston Biley, 18.
Accused murderer Jacob Meisner was previously charged with other attacks linked to the Goons
Arizona businessman Travis Renner is accused of helping his teenage son cover up the murder. He has not been charged in connection with the teen’s death
Two of them, Meisner and Hines, were already in custody when they were charged with Preston’s murder over other attacks on teenagers from the Gilbert Goons, a group of wealthy white kids who have been terrorizing suburban Phoenix since 2022.
Ashley Reynolds, who worked for Talan’s father Travis Renner, has alleged that she was an unwilling participant in a cover-up that allegedly began as soon as Preston was seriously injured.
The former Relentless Media Agency employee told Arizona Republic that her bosses Renner and Relentless Media Agency CEO Adam Kifer openly discussed their plans to hide evidence and shift the blame to another boy with a “similar name.”
Travis Renner and his business partner reportedly made plans to take Talan to a cabin until the injuries he suffered during the beatings healed. Detectives determined that Renner’s family had “financial resources to assist in the flight to Mexico” and he was taken from the Phoenix area after the attack on Preston.
Reynolds spoke to the local outlet before anyone was charged with Preston’s murder.
Queen Creek Police Chief Randy Brice confirmed that detectives spoke with Reynolds, who provided information consistent with their findings.
Travis Renner has not been charged in the alleged cover-up.
A lawyer for the Lord family said: ‘For months witnesses in this case were threatened and terrified into silence.
Gilbert police chief Michael Soelberg becomes emotional when he gives an update on the Gilbert Goon case on January 25, 2024. He acknowledged in January that law enforcement initially did not connect the attacks, which occurred at the same locations and involved the same people.
“But thanks to the collective efforts of law enforcement and the invaluable cooperation of community members, these arrests would not have occurred,” Preston’s family said in a statement. “Every arrest represents a step toward accountability and justice for our son Preston.”
A lawsuit by the father of one of the Goon’s alleged victims names 17 alleged members of the teenage gang and 26 of their parents.
The lawsuit alleges that the alleged gang members and their parents worked to intimidate the victims of the brutal attacks.
“The conspiracy culminated in the murder of 16-year-old Preston Lord by certain members of the Goons,” the lawsuit said, as reported by the Arizona Republic.
“Preston’s killers should have been in prison,” said defense attorney Richard Lyons. “Why didn’t they arrest and charge these kids?”
Gilbert police have said Preston’s murder inspired them to take another look at the Gilbert Goons.
The lawsuit accuses the Goons of causing skull fractures, facial fractures, broken and missing teeth, concussions and other serious injuries.