Preston Lord police report, chilling 911 calls released by Queen Creek police

Queen Creek police released recordings of a dozen 911 calls from the night 16-year-old Preston Lord was fatally beaten during a Halloween party last year.

In one, a boy cries as he tells a dispatcher that one friend had a broken wrist and another was lying on the ground unconscious. He described his attackers as strangers, saying there were at least 15 and they were wearing ski masks.

“I’m scared. I don’t know what to do,” he said in the call, which was placed at 9:49 p.m. “Are people on the way? I need them to get here. I do not want my friend to die.”

In another recording, at 9:53 p.m., a teen tells a 911 dispatcher that a group of trained lifeguards was trying to administer CPR on Lord. The caller said Lord vomited and they felt a faint pulse and placed him in a “recovery position.” The caller estimated that Lord had not been breathing for up to two minutes.

Police on Thursday also released more than 1,100 pages of police reports and witness statements as part of a public records request by The Arizona Republic.

The release comes on the five-month anniversary of the Oct. 28 beating. Lord died two days later. His death sparked community outrage and led to the arrests of four adults and three juveniles who, on March 6, were charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping.

A Dec. 14 investigation by The Arizona Republic detailed how Lord's death was tied to the "Gilbert Goons," a gang of teenagers who recorded their blitz-style attacks on teens in parks and parking garages, outside fast-food restaurants and at house parties. The attacks went unchecked by authorities for more than a year.

The 911 calls are mostly from residents warning that the house party was out of control and hundreds of kids were wandering the neighborhood, vomiting in bushes, hopping walls, cutting through yards and blocking streets with cars.

One call proved to be prophetic.

"Something bad is going to happen," a woman told a dispatcher.

Neighbors beseeched police to get there as fast as they could. They said cars from the party were completely blocking streets. One woman complained that teens were banging on her car and swearing as she tried to leave the neighborhood to get to the hospital.

A second party in a nearby neighborhood adjacent to American Leadership Academy Queen Creek prompted calls to police around the same time. Neighbors there had similar complaints.

"Someone's going to get hurt; someone's going to get killed," a woman said to dispatch, estimating 250 kids were spilling out of the second house party.

In another call a few minutes later, a woman — possibly the same caller; names and addresses were redacted from the 911 recordings — talked to police as she yelled at partygoers to stay away from her house. She told a dispatcher, who insisted officers were in the area, "I've not yet seen one Queen Creek PD anywhere in our neighborhood. There's no cops here ... unless those cops are hidden in the bushes."

Police called to neighborhood twice on night of attack

Lord was a popular student at Combs High School in nearby San Tan Valley. He served on the student council and played basketball, football and golf.

He was among hundreds of teenagers who descended on the Halloween party after word of the gathering spread via social media.

At about 9 p.m. on Oct. 28, police responded to the area of 194th Street and Via del Oro in Queen Creek for a "juvenile disturbance." When police arrived, they found multiple teenagers walking up and down the street, seemingly leaving a residence where they had gathered.

Queen Creek police Chief Randy Brice said in an earlier interview with The Republic that officers did not notice any illegal activity. Officers left after they were sent to a "high-priority" call about a crime in progress elsewhere, he said.

At 9:49 p.m., police received a 911 call about an assault in the same neighborhood, a few houses from the earlier call. When they arrived, they found Lord lying in the roadway.

On Dec. 28, the two-month anniversary of Lord's beating, Queen Creek police referred charges against seven people to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office for prosecution.

A grand jury indicted Treston Billey, 18; William "Owen" Hines, 18; Jacob Meisner, 17; Talan Renner, 17; Taylor Sherman, 19; Dominic Turner, 20; and Talyn Vigil, 17. Renner, Vigil and Meisner were to be charged as adults.

Billey, Meisner and Turner also were charged with aggravated robbery in connection with a necklace that authorities say was taken from Lord's friend as the attack unfolded.

Two of the seven charged in Lord's killing, Hines and Meisner, face separate charges related to Goon assaults going back to 2022.

Police file offers details about chaotic house party, attacks

Queen Creek police, at times with the help of the FBI, were able to pull messages from phones that revealed suspects and others were monitoring Lord’s condition after the assault, according to the extensive investigative record provided to The Republic, which details police work from the night of the assault through mid-March.

Sherman sent a video of Lord "being dragged by the group who rendered aid and not involved in the assault," according to the police file.

Within days, detectives and officers conducted multiple interviews, including at high schools across the East Valley. In some cases, the parents of witnesses and suspects would not let their children speak to the police. Suggestions that the Gilbert Goons were involved in Lord's death arose early in the investigation.

The information police gathered from interviews and cellphones suggests there were multiple fights and assaults the night that Lord was attacked.

Lord was one of at least four people who were assaulted that night. Lord's friend had his necklace snatched away and then he was struck. Another teen sustained a broken wrist. Turner was punched and lost consciousness, according to the investigative file.

A large group of up to 15 boys were believed to have been involved in the various assaults the night of the incident, police noted in the report.

The assaults followed someone recording a verbal argument in the party house's backyard. People in Lord’s group observed the argument. Someone recorded and shared the argument on social media, and Billey demanded that the person delete the video, according to the police file.

Lord’s group left the backyard, but police said their presence at the argument may have caused them to be followed away from the party by their attackers.

Lord’s friend then had his necklace snatched from his neck by Turner, according to the police file. Meisner punched the friend whose necklace was taken, police reported, setting everyone off running.

Lord and his friends were chased, police reported. Lord was attacked and fell to the ground and was repeatedly struck by his attackers, the police file states.

Lord was left lying on the street and some of his attackers were seen by witnesses fleeing the area, according to the police file.

But the people who police say assaulted Lord talked to others about the attack and tried to protect themselves, according to the investigative file.

Renner messaged someone the same night, the police file states: “Got in a fight ... killed a kid ... guess I don’t know my own strength."

Each of the seven defendants entered pleas of not guilty to their charges.

The Republic's Jimmy Jenkins and Maritza Dominguez contributed reporting.

Elena Santa Cruz is a criminal justice reporter for The Republic. Reach her at [email protected]. Follow her on X @ecsantacruz3.

Robert Anglen is an investigative reporter for The Republic. Reach him at [email protected]. Follow him on X @robertanglen.

Miguel Torres is a criminal justice reporter for The Republic. Reach him at [email protected].

Latest news: More arrests expected in Lord case after Republic investigation connects cases to Goon attacks

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Preston Lord police report released by Queen Creek police