QUEEN CREEK, AZ — Queen Creek's police chief is answering questions about the arrests in the Preston Lord homicide case.
Lord was beaten at a Halloween party on October 28 in Queen Creek and later died.
"I caution everyone that this is just the beginning," said Police Chief Randy Brice.
Earlier this month, after months of waiting, the East Valley community watched as seven people were arrested and indicted in the beating death of Lord.
ABC15's Ashley Holden talks one-on-one with Queen Creek Police Chief Randy Brice in the video player below:
Ashley Holden: I’m sure you've been waiting over four months to tell the Lord family that arrests are coming. Can you say how that moment felt?
Chief Brice: I think the moment that I was able to talk to portions of the family was...it was relief, still sadness, maybe a little bit of hope.
Chief Brice said the investigation isn't over.
FULL COVERAGE: East Valley teen violence
"While the circumstances may be easily explained, there's a lot of investigative moving parts for us to just tie up, make sure that we have everything," said Chief Brice.
In just the last few days, ABC15 uncovered new details about the case. The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office told ABC15 a necklace was taken from a different victim the same October night Lord was attacked.
ABC15 asked Chief Brice about the role that necklace played and if it is connected to the reason Lord lost his life.
"I don't really want to comment and specifically that that was the one thing that it was because it was a series of events that occurred that evening, and this will be for the prosecutor to really lay out that story in trial," said Chief Brice.
Chief Brice told ABC15, that unlike other teen violence cases in the East Valley, they don't have evidence that brass knuckles were used. There are details Chief Brice could not talk about, including allegations made by MCAO prosecutors in court or what role the seven suspects had in the attack.
"I’m not going to go into detail, the County Attorney will provide that narrative as they go through the prosecution," said Chief Brice. "Certainly the indictments are reflective of the evidence that we provided."
But ABC15 did ask about new court documents that allege 17-year-old suspect Talan Renner was taken out of the area after the attack.
"So again, it's a specific part of the case that will come out during the prosecution," said Chief Brice. "We looked at the movement of all of the suspects; where they were, what happened that night to what happened afterward as we gathered evidence."
All seven suspects will be in court this week for their arraignments, including six on Wednesday.
"Just everybody be prepared for kind of a long process, and it's going to be a roller coaster of emotions," said Chief Brice. "Please don't jump to conclusions and just let the process work."
Have a news tip related to teen violence in the Valley? Email us at teenviolence@abc15.com
