MARICOPA COUNTY, Arizona — Talyn Vigil is set to return to court Thursday amidst a push to revoke his release.
The first defendant set to go to trial, Jacob Meisner, will also be in court on Friday. His team plans to argue several motions, weeks before his current trial date.
Preston Lord was attacked and beaten leaving a Queen Creek Halloween party in 2023. The 16-year-old died two days later.
Seven people were arrested and just one had taken a plea agreement so far.
Vigil is one of five defendants in the case that have bonded out of custody. Their release conditions include house arrest and GPS monitoring.
This week the ABC15 Investigators obtained a petition filed by pretrial services, which oversees Vigil’s release.
Do you have a concern in your community or a news tip? We want to hear from you!
Connect with us: share@abc15.com
A pretrial services officer said they believe Vigil’s third misdemeanor arrest in Tempe violated his release conditions and recommended a warrant be issued for his arrest.
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office also filed their second request to have Vigil’s release conditions revoked and have the 20-year-old held in jail until his trial.
Thursday morning the judge presiding over the murder case, Judge Sam Myers, will hear from both parties and the victim’s family.
In the most recent episode of our streaming series Arizona Crime Uncovered, a Valley attorney took questions on bond and the legal process to revoke someone’s release.
Attorney Josh Kolsrud, who is not connected to the murder case, said Judge Myers could also change Vigil's release conditions by putting a higher bond in place or even more restrictions.
REQUEST FOR BOND REDUCTION
Jacob Meisner, who has remained in custody, is set to be the first defendant to go to trial.
Earlier this month, his attorney, Andrew Marcantel, asked for a six month delay. Judge Myers ultimately only gave the parties an additional six weeks. Currently, Meisner’s trial is slated for the beginning of November.
In court, Marcantel argued that the state’s case against Meisner was "getting weaker".
He said 13 people had been interviewed, who said they were eye witnesses.
“So far, not a single one has identified Jacob Meisner, either by name or appearance, as being involved in the attack on Preston Lord,” said Marcantel. “They certainly have implicated other codefendants in Preston's death explicitly by name and very arguably, arguably by appearance, but not Jacob.”
That is one of the main arguments Marcantel used in a new motion filed September 24, pushing for Meisner’s bond to be reduced by $150,000.
Back in September 2024, Meisner’s bond was reduced to $350,000. The judge presiding over the case at the time, Judge Bruce Cohen, has since retired.
The newly filed motion says Meisner can’t afford his current bond amount.
The filing also alleges that an eye witness, who prosecutors believed implicated Meisner, has since said he ‘technically lied’ to police.
Other filings say that witness declined a scene walk through and later asked to be excused from testifying.
Marcantel insists his client is a “minimal” flight risk.
“Jacob is not a morally depraved individual seeking to cause harm,” wrote Marcantel. “Instead, he is a young man who became involve with the wrong crowd.”
The attorney for another defendant, Talan Renner, previously filed documents which alleged Meisner’s affiliation with the hybrid gang known as the “Gilbert Goons”.
In 2024, Meisner was sentenced for two teen violence attacks that occurred prior to Preston’s murder.
Multiple motions were filed between prosecutors and Meisner’s defense team.
Two focus on supplemental reports from the Queen Creek Police Department that defense says were recently disclosed.
“This information was known to the investigating officers in 2024, but only now has it been provided by the state,” wrote Marcantel.
Meisner’s defense team is now pushing to get more information from Queen Creek police and potentially retain an expert in police procedure and investigations.
In court earlier this month, prosecutor Ryan Green addressed the recent disclosures.
“It was a series of smaller supplements,” said Green. “The longer ones were essentially summaries of interviews, recorded interviews that were in fact already disclosed.”
He also said he did not believe that it contained any “major substantive new information”.
ABC15 was told Meisner will be back in court Friday morning for oral arguments. The parties are expected to address a majority of the motions filed.
The six remaining defendants have all pleaded not guilty.
Want more news in your community? Add ABC15 as a preferred source on Google below:
