Suspects’ Messages Revealed After Teen's Be...

In text messages revealed in a police report this week, several suspects charged in connection with the October 2023 beating death of 16-year-old Preston Lord at a Halloween party appeared to have discussed the deadly attack after it occurred

Published Time: 01.04.2024 - 21:31:17 Modified Time: 01.04.2024 - 21:31:17

In text messages revealed in a police report this week, several suspects charged in connection with the October 2023 beating death of 16-year-old Preston Lord at a Halloween party appeared to have discussed the deadly attack after it occurred.

Lord died in the hospital two days after the Oct. 28, 2023, attack in Queen Creek, a suburb of Phoenix, Ariz., according to a previous statement shared by the Queen Creek Police Department.

Since then, a homicide investigation has resulted in the arrests of seven suspects: Talan Renner, 17, Talyn Vigil, 17, William Owen Hines, 18, Dominic Turner, 20, Taylor Sherman, 19, Treston Billey, 18, and Jacob Meisner, 17, authorities said, according to KPNX, AZfamily.com, and Fox 10 Phoenix.

The suspects, all of whom face first-degree murder and kidnapping charges, have pleaded not guilty, AZfamily.com reported. Turner and Meisner are additionally charged with aggravated robbery.

This week, the Queen Creek Police Department released a 1,100-page police report detailing the evidence investigators gathered in the months leading up to the arrests. According to the report cited by KPNX, Renner allegedly wrote in a text message dated Oct. 28, “Got in a fight...killed a kid..guess I don't know my own strength.”

The police report further alleges that Vigil wrote in a private Snapchat message, “I hit a kid and this kid feel hit his head and then they kicked his head in the ground then I got word died so idk,” according to KPNX. In a se -

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parate text exchange allegedly involving Sherman and an unidentified person, a message allegedly reads, “Talan killed someone with his hands,” and a later response reading, “Bro that kid died,” the outlet reported.

According to the police report cited by KPNX, an unidentified person also allegedly messaged Sherman about wanting a $10,000 reward writing, “Yo tell me you didn't delete the video of the dead kid. It's 10k if you give to the popo.” Another person police believe was Meisner then allegedly asked to "delete everything."

According to Fox 10, police said in the report that the attack that resulted in Preston's death allegedly took place after the theft of a necklace from one of Lord’s friends. The outlet reported that someone told police on Nov. 4 that Renner allegedly told a friend that he threw the initial punch.

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In a March statement obtained by NBC News following the arrests, Lord’s parents, Nick Lord and Autumn Curiel, said through their lawyer, “But for law enforcement’s collective efforts and community members’ invaluable cooperation, these arrests would not have happened.”

"Each arrest represents a step towards accountability and justice for our son Preston."