Preston Lord murder: All 7 suspects in Arizona teen's killing appear in court
PHOENIX - On the morning of Aug. 8, all seven defendants accused in the death of Preston Lord appeared in court.
Preston, who was 16, was found beaten in a residential neighborhood near the intersection of Via Del Verde and Sossaman Road on Oct. 28, 2023. He died at the hospital two days later, and the death sparked outrage, as well as demands to address teen violence in the East Valley.
Continuing Coverage on Teen Violence
The seven defendants have been identified as Treston Billey, William Hines, Jacob Meisner, Talan Renner, Taylor Sherman, Dominic Turner, and Talyn Vigil. The seven are facing 1st degree murder charges. In court, the defense attorneys shared concerns over the mountain of evidence they're pouring through. One lawyer claimed she has already received 6,000 pages, 200 body camera videos, and 400 potential witnesses. More is also expected.
Meanwhile, prosecutors said there's hours of video.
"The problem is, it’s taking a very long time for it to upload," one of the lawyers was heard saying. "I was advised, I think yesterday, that it had been uploading for like two days or so."
The presiding judge stressed that he believes a July 2025 trial date is realistic, while also acknowledging what he called a "herculean" effort of pouring through the massive amount of evidence.
Outside the courtroom, supporters of the Lord family were dressed in orange, which was Preston's favorite color.
"We wanna make sure that they know that we are not giving up, and this will not be swept under the rug," said one supporter, identified only as ‘Lisa.’
"The attack on Preston was a deliberate attack," said Preston's stepmother, Melissa Ciconte. "It wasn’t just a couple kids throwing punches, it was a deliberate attack on him that took his life, and they should be held accountable for his death."
After going through a laundry list of motions and setting dates, the presiding judge said they would continue meeting for updates. A few of the defendants have had lower bond, and others are trying to get theirs reduced as well.