A new timeline lays bare the horror of the fatal beating of 16-year-old Preston Lord by a gang of teenagers in Arizona.
Lord was assaulted at a Halloween party last October and found on a nearby sidewalk in Queen Creek, a Phoenix suburb.
Talan Renner, 17, is accused of being the thug who delivered the devastating ‘hammer blows’ that ended the young athlete’s life.
Witnesses told police that Renner punched Lord at least four times as the victim fell to the ground, before kicking him at least once.
Renner then walked away and allowed the other alleged teenage offenders, who call themselves ‘Gilbert Goons’, to take turns attacking Lord.
The other six murder suspects took turns stomping, punching and even humping Lord as he lay on the ground, according to a police report and as reported by The Arizona Republic.
Preston Lord, 16, was left to die on a Queen Creek road outside Phoenix after being attacked at the party on October 28 and suffering critical injuries.
Talan Renner, 17, is accused of being the thug who delivered the devastating ‘hammer blows’ that ended Lord’s life.
A monument to Preston Lord is seen next to the sidewalk where he was found unconscious
Repeat offenders William ‘Owen’ Hines, 18, and Dominic Turner, 20, were seen kicking Lord. Jacob Meisner, 17, accused of Goon’s other assaults, was also seen punching Lord several times.
Treston Billey, 18, another thug previously accused of several assaults, was allegedly the last to attack, jumping on Lord’s head while shouting: ‘F*** you, you b***h!’
Taylor Sherman, 19, is then accused of opening Snapchat on her phone to record rescuers dragging Lord’s body off the street.
He reportedly said, ‘He collapsed like a damn.’ Ha ha.’
Talyn Vigil then allegedly ran to his car and told his girlfriend, “I just knocked a kid unconscious…we gotta go, we gotta go.”
Lord died of his brain injuries in the hospital two days later, but police made no arrests for months until March, sparking frustration in a community that has been rocked by teen violence in recent years.
All seven suspects have pleaded not guilty to Lord’s murder and all except Vigil, who posted bail last week, remain in jail awaiting trial.
The suspects in Lord’s murder, Billey and Meisner, are seen above. Both were previously accused of assaults related to the so-called Gilbert Goons.
Suspect Talyn Vigil ran to his car and told his girlfriend, “I just knocked a kid unconscious…we gotta go, we gotta go.”
By 9:40 p.m., the Goons had caught up with Lord and his friends, and Dominic Turner snatched a $10 gold chain from the boy who had recorded the earlier altercation.
Sherman told police when they left the scene that Renner said, “I could have hospitalized that kid… I hit him pretty bad.”
Lord’s friends told police that while they did not know any of the attackers, Billey targeted one of Lord’s friends after he began recording another altercation involving the murder suspects.
The boy told Billey he deleted the video, but the bullies continued to target Lord and his friends, who attempted to leave the party but were followed by the teenage offenders.
While being chased, the thugs allegedly chanted an ominous tune that read: “Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey, goodbye.”
By 9:40 p.m., the Goons had caught up with Lord and his friends, and Turner snatched a $10 gold chain from the boy who had recorded the earlier altercation, according to police reports.
The bullies then began playing hot potato with the gold chain while taunting the boys and goading him to “do something” with the stolen chain, it is alleged.
Taylor Sherman, 19, opened Snapchat on her phone to record rescuers dragging Lord’s body off the street.
Repeat offender William ‘Owen’ Hines, 18, was also seen assaulting Lord.
Despite the taunts, the boy tried to walk away but soon felt a blow to the right side of his head. The punch was thrown by Meisner, witnesses told police, and caused the chaos that followed.
Lord and his friends began to flee, but the bullies chased him again, pushing a 14-year-old boy to the ground before allegedly hitting him on the head and leaving him with a broken wrist.
The thugs then caught up with Lord and punched him to the ground before taking turns attacking him. It is not clear who threw the first blow, some witnesses pointed to Renner and others to Vigil.
The children have a similar name, and Renner’s father, Travis Renner, has been accused of using the similarity in names to try to pin the murder on Vigil, who is the only suspect free on bail.
The beating lasted a few seconds and the thugs reportedly headed to their cars after “twerking” and “air-fucking” Lord’s body.
According to a former employee of Travis Renner, an attempted cover-up began almost immediately after Lord’s murder.
Ashley Reynolds, who used to work at Relentless Media Agency, said that his former bosses Travis Renner and Adam Kifer openly discussed their plans to hide evidence and shift the blame to Talyn Vigil.
Travis Renner and his business partner reportedly planned to take Talan to a cabin until the injuries he sustained while beating him healed. Detectives recorded that Renner’s family had “financial means to help him flee to Mexico” and removed him from the Phoenix area after the Preston attack.
The businessmen said Preston’s beating was part of some type of initiation, as Talan wanted to participate in beatings like those carried out by the Gilbert Goons, Reynolds said.
Court documents say none of the suspects knew Preston before attacking him over a gold chain.
Arizona businessman Travis Renner has been accused of helping his teenage son cover up the murder of a 16-year-old boy who was beaten to death after a party at his home.
Reynolds claimed he was ordered to backtrack electronic calendar entries to make it appear that Talan was out of town on the day of the Halloween party. He added that his former bosses even devised a way for Renner to get rid of the company to minimize the possibility of lawsuits.
Kifer, Renner’s business partner, allegedly asked Reynolds to sign a confidentiality agreement. He told the Arizona Republic that he has “no connection to the allegations involving the Renner family.”
Reynolds spoke to the local media before anyone was charged with Preston’s murder.
Queen Creek Police Chief Randy Brice confirmed that detectives spoke with Reynolds, who provided information consistent with their findings.
‘The statements that were made related to our case corroborated what we already knew. … More than a contradiction, it was a confirmation,” the police chief said. “It is information that we already knew through a different series of interviews.”
Police raided Renner’s home in November, but Talan was not arrested until later.
Renner’s other son, Kyler, has been charged in connection with two separate gang attacks in a parking lot and a house party in 2022.
Travis Renner was also arrested in January on suspicion of drug possession and paraphernalia charges, while his son Kyler was arrested on allegations of gang violence.
The father has not been charged in the alleged cover-up.