Preston Lord murder: 911 calls, police report released in teen's killing
(NOTE: This article contains content that some may find disturbing. Discretion is advised)
QUEEN CREEK, Ariz. -- Five months to the day since 16-year-old Preston Lord was brutally beaten at a party in Queen Creek and subsequently died, police officials released 911 calls made on that fateful night, as well as hundreds of pages from their investigation.
The investigation revealed that the theft of an inexpensive necklace from one of Preston’s friends set in motion the fight that led to the deadly assault.
911 calls reveal terrifying scene
There were over a dozen 911 calls made on the night Preston was brutally beaten. Two of those calls were made as Preston was on the ground, surrounded by people performing CPR on him. One caller said he was Preston's friend.
"There's a bunch of people with guns and [expletive deleted], and they jumped my friend and he's knocked out on the ground," one person can be heard saying in the 911 call.
"Are you able to do CPR? Do you want me to walk you through it?" the 911 dispatcher was heard saying.
"There's a bunch of certified lifeguards. There's a bunch of certified lifeguards right now. We know how to do CPR," the 911 caller can be heard saying.
Two callers stayed on the phone as they waited for first responders to take over.
"He's been unconscious for like 3 minutes. We need people over here," said one 911 caller. " Are people on the way? I need them to get here. I need them to get here fast. I don't want my friend to die."
"They're on the way. I promise," a 911 dispatcher was hears saying.
The caller who described Preston as his friend gave a brief description of the suspects.
"They all had ski masks on," the caller said.
"How many was it?" the 911 dispatcher asked.
"A lot," the caller replied.
"Like four, five or more?" the dispatcher asked.
"Like 15," the caller replied.
Police have made multiple arrests
The suspects arrested and indicted in connection with Preston Lord's murder.
So far, seven people have been arrested and indicted in connection with Preston’s death. They have been identified as Treston Billey, William Hines, Jacob Meisner, Talan Renner, Taylor Sherman, Dominic Turner, and Talyn Vigil.
The seven have all pleaded not guilty to crimes they are accused of committing. There are two other suspects named in the court documents, but they have not been arrested.
Over 1,100 pages of court documents reveal witness and suspect descriptions, interviews and walk throughs with teens to recount what happened that night.
The documents also include heavily redacted group text messages with one of those suspects: Taylor Sherman. In it, the teens admitted to getting in a fight and said "Talen killed someone with his hands," and "Talen hit him once and he was, like, dead."
It should be noted that ‘Talen,’ as listed in the quotes, appears to be a misspelling, as none of the suspects' first name are spelled ‘Talen.’ There are, however, two suspects with first names that are spelled slightly different: Talan Renner and Talyn Vigil. One of the messages referred to ‘Talen’ as the brother of Kyler. Kyler's full name was spelled in the text as ‘Kyler Rennes,' which appears to be another misspelling, as none of the suspects have a last name that is spelled exactly like so.
Court documents also state the friend who called 911 told police he saw the lifeguards move Preston to a pathway, but he was turning blue and purple, had blood coming from his nose, and spit coming from his mouth.