An Arizona high school football star has pleaded not guilty after his father was accused of helping him cover up the murder of 16-year-old Preston Lord.
Seven young men, including Talan Renner, 17, have been charged with the brutal murder of Lord, who was found seriously injured on Queen Creek Road, outside Phoenix, after being attacked during a Halloween party in October.
Talan and five other suspects — Dominic Turner, 20, Talyn Vigil, 19, Taylor Sherman, 19, and Jacob Meisner, 17 — appeared in court Wednesday and all pleaded not guilty to the murder. They are all charged as adults.
William Hines, 18, failed to appear in court after reportedly refusing to be transferred to a judge but also entering a plea of not guilty, as reported by ABC-15. The seventh suspect, Treston Biley, 18, is expected to appear in court Thursday.
Phoenix police were forced to apologize this week after Talan’s parents Becky and Travis Renner received special parking services from the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office — who drove their Tesla directly to the rear of the Durango Juvenile Court so they could avoid reporters.
It took authorities months to name the suspects, with angry locals demanding justice and claiming the young boys’ powerful families were obstructing justice.
Seven young men, including high school football star Talan Renner, 17, have been charged in the brutal murder of Preston Lord, 16, who was beaten to death
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
Arizona businessman Travis Renner is accused of helping his teenage son cover up the murder of a 16-year-old boy who was beaten to death after a house party.
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.
This is what the former employee of the media company says Republic of Arizona that her bosses Renner and Adam Kifer, CEO of Relentless Media Agency, 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 the Show Low cabin until the injuries he suffered during the assault healed. Detectives determined that Renner’s family had “financial resources to assist in the flight to Mexico.”
The businessmen said the beatings were part of some kind of initiation because Talan wanted to participate in beatings like those carried out by the Goons, Reynolds said.
Court documents show that none of the suspects knew Lord before they attacked him with a gold chain.
Reynolds said she was instructed to backdate electronic calendar entries to make it appear that Talan was out of town on the day of the Halloween party. She added that her former bosses even devised a way for Renner to divest himself from the company to minimize the chance of lawsuits.
Renner’s business partner Kifer then allegedly asked Reynolds to sign a non-disclosure agreement. He told the Arizona Republic that he has “no connection to the allegations involving the Renner family.”
Talan Renner will be seen on Wednesday before pleading not guilty. He is being held in a juvenile detention center
On March 7, Talan Renner’s parents, Becky and Travis Renner, were escorted through a back exit of Durango Juvenile Court in Phoenix as they attended their son’s first court appearance.
Treston Biley (left) and Talyn Vigil (right) have also been charged in Preston’s murder
Taylor Sherman (left) Dominic Turner (center), William Owen Hines top (right) have been charged with murder and kidnapping
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.
‘The statements made regarding our case confirmed what we already knew. … It was an affirmation rather than a contradiction,” the police chief said. “It’s information we already knew through another series of interviews.”
Preston’s killing highlighted a growing number of cases of teen gang violence in the Phoenix area and other cities in Maricopa County. Police have said this motivated them to take action against a street gang called “Gilbert Goons,” which has attacked teenagers and robbed stores in the Phoenix area.
Renner’s home was raided by police in November, but Talan was only arrested on Wednesday.
Renner’s other son Kyler has been charged in connection with two separate gang attacks at a parking garage and a house party in 2022.
Travis Renner was also arrested in January on suspicion of drug possession and paraphernalia charges, while his son Kyler was taken into custody on gang violence charges.
The father 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.’
Travis Renner’s other son, Kyler, has been charged in connection with two gang attacks at a parking garage and house party in 2022
Dominic Turner, 20, and Taylor Sherman, 19, will be seen in court Wednesday
“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.”
The quiet communities of the south-eastern Valley have been rocked by a series of teen violence since last year, leaving several people injured and three dead.
In January, Arizona police said they had arrested members of a street gang called the “Gilbert Goons,” who attacked teenagers and robbed stores.
Activists have previously said the same gang was involved in Preston’s death.
After Lord’s fatal beating was detailed by the Arizona Republic last December, authorities reopened several cases believed to have been carried out by a larger group of assailants.
Victims and residents in the area described the group, the “Gilbert Goons,” as “20 or more mostly white, upper-middle class teenagers from multiple East Valley high schools,” according to the outlet.
Hundreds of community activists took to the streets in late December to demand justice and raise awareness for Lord, two months after his tragic death.