Six suspects indicted in the brutal slaying of East Valley teen Preston Lord declared their innocence in court Wednesday, according to AZFamily. The suspects — Dominic Turner, 20; Taylor Sherman, 19; Talan Renner, 19; William Hines, 18; Jacob Meisner, 17 and Talyn Vigil, 17 — all plead not guilty to charges of murder and kidnapping, with the arraignment for Turner, Sherman, Renner, Meisner, and Vigil taking place on March 13th.
The sole suspect not to show up in court was Hines, who is said to have refused to be transported to his hearing. His lawyers entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf, a decision that split among the other attorneys for the accused, all tasked to defend against the gravity pulling them to a potential lifetime behind bars. As reported by AZFamily, Hines, and Meisner were caught in the snare of law enforcement for unrelated teen-on-teen attacks before their arrest for Lord's murder.
Treston Billey, the seventh suspect, is anticipated to make his court appearance for arraignment the following day. The charges come in the wake of the October 28 event where Preston Lord was savagely beaten at a Queen Creek Halloween party, succumbing to his injuries two days later, as per information from FOX 10 Phoenix.
In a twist underpinning the hardship on the justice scales, Maricopa County Sheriff Russ Skinner acknowledged the likelihood of disciplinary action against two deputies for going out of protocol in escorting the Renner family in a secure manner. "I talked to County Attorney Rachel Mitchell and have contacted both the parents of the Lord family to let them know we’re looking into it and express my apologies in reference to the lack of professionalism that they perceived in reference to this," Skinner told AZFamily.
All of the defendants, except Meisner and Renner who are being held in juvenile detention, remain in Maricopa County jail pending their next court dates on April 30. The prior juvenile hearing’s lapse in protocol, involving two Maricopa County deputies providing what looked to be preferential treatment to the Renner family, brought forth a statement from a Sheriff's Office spokesperson detailing the misstep and ongoing examination of the incident, leaving us to wait and see how justice shall ultimately be meted out.
