Seven individuals have been indicted in connection to the murder of 16-year-old Preston Lord, who was savagely beaten at a Queen Creek Halloween party in October and succumbed to his injuries two days later, as 12News reported following a sit-down with Gilbert Police Chief Michael Soelberg and Queen Creek Police Chief Randy Brice.
The Gilbert Police Department has confronted a wave of teen-on-teen violence with more than 250 calls in two years, and the suspects in Lord's murder were all previously known to law enforcement, Soelberg conceded in the interview with 12News, stating "there was no action that we could have done differently that would have taken them off of the streets so that they could not have done the harm, and killing Preston Lord." Meanwhile, Chief Brice, leading the ongoing investigation and remaining tight-lipped about the specifics of the suspects' involvement told 12News, "I’m going to be very careful about the information I provide at this point just because it’s so important to maintain the integrity of this prosecutorial process and our ongoing investigation."
In an exclusive one-on-one interview with ABC15, Chief Brice shared sentiments of relief and hope at being able to finally inform the Lord family about the arrests and reminded the community, "this is just the beginning," of a complex case that promises a roller coaster of emotions and urged the public to let the legal process unfold without jumping to conclusions; his department still has investigative threads to tie up, even as court documents revealed new details including the theft of a necklace and the movement of the suspects post-attack, but he declined to comment on how these specifics would factor into the prosecution.
All seven suspects involved in the case are set for their arraignments this week, heading to court amid a community grappling with the realities of teen violence in the East Valley—Chief Brice anticipates a lengthy legal journey ahead and underscores the importance of patience during the arraignment process, "Just everybody be prepared for kind of a long process, and it's going to be a roller coaster of emotions," he elaborated in the ABC15 interview.
