An Arizona teenager linked to the Gilbert Goons mob has pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault.
Gage Garrison, 19, was arrested in January after being suspected of participating in an attack in a parking lot the previous month, as well as the assault of a teenager at a girl’s birthday party in December 2022.
In that second attack, he was accused of using brass knuckles to beat another teenager who “had defended a friend at school,” and was arrested along with 18-year-old Cody Kostoryz.
Prosecutors said Garrison is linked to the so-called Gilbert Goons, a gang of teenagers who have been threatening the town of Gilbert, Arizona, for years.
Gage Garrison, 19, an Arizona teenager allegedly linked to the Gilbert Goons mob, pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault.
Garrison was charged with an attack in a parking lot last year and another at a girl’s birthday party in December 2022 (pictured), where a teenage girl was attacked with brass knuckles.
The Goons are best known for their alleged involvement in the brutal beating to death of 16-year-old Preston Lord at a Halloween party last fall.
In that attack, Lord was reportedly attacked by 15 people wearing ski masks, leading to the arrest of 17-year-old Talan Renner on first-degree murder charges.
Renner’s brother, Kyler, is among two other teens involved in the parking lot attack to which Garrison pleaded guilty this week.
In the birthday party attack to which he also pleaded guilty, court records reported by 12News found that he and Kostyryz ambushed another minor because of a bullying dispute at their school.
The victim, who was not identified, reportedly told police he was targeted because he “stood up for a friend at school” and the alleged “bullies” found him at a girl’s birthday party at his home.
A group reportedly broke into the house uninvited and attacked the victim.
Footage from the chaotic scenes at the party showed the crowd holding the victim down as they took turns punching and kicking him.
A pair of brass knuckles that police say were used in the attack.
Preston Lord, 16, was left stranded on a Queen Creek road outside Phoenix after being attacked at the party on Oct. 28 and suffering serious injuries, and is the most high-profile case of the “Gilbert Goons” reign of terror.
Footage from the chaotic scenes at the party showed the crowd holding the victim back as they took turns punching and kicking him, including with a pair of brass knuckles.
Following his guilty plea, Garrison will be sentenced on September 26.
Prosecutors allege Garrison is a member of the Goons, who have been linked to a series of violent attacks on teenagers across the area.
In the attack on Lord, the teenager tragically died the day after attending a Halloween party in October last year, where he was found lying in the road.
In March, harrowing 911 audio of the attack was released, in which a sobbing witness told the operator that his friend was lying on the ground unconscious, adding that there were at least 15 attackers wearing ski masks, according to a police report obtained by The Republic of Arizona.
“I’m scared. I don’t know what to do,” the terrified boy said. “Are there people on the way? I need them to get there. I don’t want my friend to die.”
Police say suspect Talan Renner led the attack on Lord and then bragged that the victim needed a “closed casket funeral.”
In another call, a teenager said trained lifeguards were performing CPR on Preston, who he said had been vomiting and had a weak pulse. The caller added that Preston had not been breathing for two minutes.
After Renner was arrested for the incident, it was revealed that he had bragged to others that he had gotten away with the assault, even joking about it being a “closed casket funeral,” according to his father’s ex-girlfriend.
Police records indicate that an unnamed boy danced on the dying teen’s body shortly after the beating, while others performed simulated acts of rape to further degrade their victim.
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