Chandler city officials and others helped family and friends celebrate what would have been Preston Lord’s 17th birthday Sept. 23 in Downtown Chandler.
In an event hosted by The Stillery …
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teen violence
Slain East Valley teen honored in Chandler on his birthday
Courtesy of Melissa Cicone
Melissa Cicone speaks during Preston Lord Day on Sept. 23, honoring what would have been her late stepson’s 17th birthday. Behind her, from left, are Chandler City Council members Jane Poston, Christine Ellis and Matt Orlando; Cicone’s husband and Preston Lord’s father, Nick Lord and Chandler Mayor Kevin Hartke. In back are Council member Mark Stewart, left, obscured, and Chandler Unified School District Governing Board member Kurt Rohrs.
Chandler city officials and others helped family and friends celebrate what would have been Preston Lord’s 17th birthday Sept. 23 in Downtown Chandler.
In an event hosted by The Stillery restaurant, a giant sign bearing Preston’s name was presented in a courtyard. Several area elected officials were in attendance.
Chandler Vice Mayor O.D. Harris posted several photos and videos from the event on social media and emailed out a statement. He said he helped coordinate Preston Lord Day to honor the slain teen’s memory and to prompt everyone to keep making life safer for East Valley youth.
Lord died last October, two days after he was severely beaten outside a Queen Creek home, prompting criminal charges in his death and a renewed law enforcement, local government and parent involvement focus on teen safety.
“Our communities have suffered greatly due to teen violence, and Preston Lord’s tragic death has been a catalyst for change,” Harris wrote in his statement. “This day is not just a remembrance but a call to action. Violence affects us all, no matter its source. Unfortunately, violence breeds more violence, and as a community, we are united in declaring, ‘Not in our community.’”
Some of those who attended were Lord’s father, Nick Lord, stepmother Melissa Cicone, other Chandler City Council members and others.
Harris said some of the Arizonans who have called for major reforms include state lawmakers, school board members, Arizona NAACP Vice President and Pastor Andre Miller, representatives from the Maricopa County Attorney General’s Office, law enforcement, and hundreds of residents.
The city of Chandler’s main reforms so far have been council work and passage of a pair of ordinances, one prohibiting possession by or sale of brass knuckles by minors and one penalizing hosts of large prohibited gatherings.
Jason W. Brooks is a News editor for the Daily Independent and the Chandler Independent.
He covers the Chandler area for both yourvalley.net and the monthly print edition while writing for and assisting in the production of the Daily Independent.
Brooks is a well-traveled journalist who has documented life in small American communities in nearly all U.S. time zones.
Born in Washington, D.C. and raised there and in suburban Los Angeles, he has covered community news in California, New Mexico, Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska and northern Arizona.
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