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Queen Creek police report offers new details about Preston Lord's death

The 16-year-old was attacked outside a Halloween party on Oct. 28, 2023
Posted: 3:54 PM, Mar 28, 2024
Updated: 2024-04-04 21:20:46-04

GILBERT, AZ — The police report in the Preston Lord murder case was released by the Queen Creek Police Department Thursday afternoon.

The report, which is over 1,000 pages long, details the investigation that unfolded after 16-year-old Preston Lord was attacked outside a residential Halloween party. He died two days later.

SEE ABC15'S CONTINUED COVERAGE: East Valley teen violence

FBI Preston Lord poster

Queen Creek police have also released 911 calls, including one from one of Lord's friends talking about how he had been knocked unconscious for about two minutes and surrounding people, who knew life-saving procedures as lifeguards, were giving him CPR.

EDITORS NOTE: Since this story first aired, the Queen Creek Police Department has clarified that some of the 911 calls they released as part of a public records request were in reference to a party at a different location and are not related to the attack on Preston Lord.

According to the report, it was a chaotic scene with hundreds of kids and alcohol at the party. Two adults admitted to knowing their daughter was having a party but did not know that there were over 200 people on their property until there was a commotion outside, separate from Lord's assault. Queen Creek recommended two misdemeanor charges for them — criminal nuisance and contributing to a delinquency of a minor. Maricopa County Attorney's Office said the "submitted charges are still under review."

Police had a hard time getting to the scene because so many cars were on both sides of the road.

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The police report showed search warrants were issued for some Snapchat posts as early as Oct. 31, 2023. Officers executed a search warrant at suspect Treston Billey's house on November 2, looking for his purported Halloween costume, a gold chain, and other potential evidence.

According to the report, an ex-girlfriend of Talan Renner told a school administrator that he sent a "snap" on the night of the attack, saying, "I got in a fight, a big group fight, and I accidentally killed a kid."

Within a day of Lord's death, witnesses linked several of the people involved to a group called "Gilbert Goons" or "Goonies."

Have a news tip related to teen violence in the Valley? Email us at teenviolence@abc15.com

Lord's death prompted community vigils and outrage, as the case also brought to light a series of violent attacks on teenagers in the East Valley.

ABC15 has been tracking the latest updates on incidents of teen violence, including the Lord case, with the interactive timeline below.

Earlier this month, seven people were arrested after being indicted with first-degree felony murder in Lord's death.

Gilbert Police Chief Michael Soelberg recently sat down with ABC15 one-on-one to talk about their teen violence investigations, the community's cry for more action, and the heightened fear that followed the beating death of Lord.

Watch the extended interview in the video player below:

Extended one-on-one interview with Gilbert Police Chief