A suspect in the murder of 16-year-old Preston Lord has entered a guilty plea to the lesser charge of manslaughter.
According to court documents, William Owen Hines entered his plea on Tuesday. He had been charged with one count of first-degree murder. A second charge of kidnapping was dismissed as a result of the plea.
“(W)e can share that the victim’s family is pleased with the results of today’s settlement conference,” Vanessa Ceja-Cervantes, public information officer with the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, stated in an email.
Lord was severely beaten during a house party in Queen Creek on Oct. 28, 2023 and died at Phoenix Children’s Hospital two days later.
Hines, along with six other young men from Gilbert, was arrested and charged with Lord’s death.
Talan Renner, Dominic Turner and Talyn Vigil were arrested in Gilbert by Queen Creek Police on March 6, 2024. A day later, Treston Billey and Taylor Sherman were arrested. Hines and Jacob Meisner were already in custody on unrelated charges at the time of the arrests.
All seven were charged with one count of first-degree murder and in the alternative second-degree murder, both Class 1 felonies; and one count kidnapping, a Class 2 felony.
“From the outset, QCPD has been unwavering in its commitment to securing justice for Preston and his family. Our focus remains on the six individuals still facing first-degree murder charges, and we will continue working closely with MCAO as the legal process moves forward,” according to a statement from the Queen Creek Police Department.
On the same day as Hines’ plea deal, the Arizona House of Representatives passed a bill championed by Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell that makes the act of a group attacking one person, or “swarming,” a Class 4 felony as opposed to the lesser Class 6.
The bill was first proposed by Mitchel on Sept. 11.
“We’ve called the crime that our proposal addresses swarming because much like it sounds, this is focused on people who team up and beat up on a single individual,” Mitchell said at the time. “This is for the most part what we have been seeing in recent cases of teen violence — three, four, five or more people targeting one person. This mob mentality that is demonstrated in these cases is significantly more dangerous for the victim and that danger needs to be reflected in our laws.”
The bill was sponsored by State Rep. Matt Gress, R-Phoenix.
Lord’s murder galvanized the Valley’s attention on the spate of teen violence taking place in the East Valley, with Gilbert at the epicenter. Attacks were reported in Gilbert, Chandler, Mesa, Queen Creek and San Tan Valley in Pinal County.
The violence included beatings, thefts and vandalism.
Janet Perez News Editor | Queen Creek &
San Tan Valley
Meet Janet Janet Perez joined Independent Newsmedia as editor of the Queen Creek Independent and Florence Independent in 2020. She started her career in 1989 with the Gannett-owned El Paso Times. In 1992, she moved to Tempe and has worked in newspapers, magazines, radio and television. She left Arizona for three years to work at New Mexico State University and Baylor University before returning to work at Arizona State University. Missing the business, she went back to journalism in 2017.
Community: A long-time pet owner, she supports animal welfare causes.
Education: University of Texas at El Paso with a BA in journalism and a minor in political science.
Random Fact: She had a head full of random facts.
Hobbies: Reading, watching documentaries, cooking and playing with her dogs.
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