Six of the seven people accused of killing 16-year-old Arizona teen Preston Lord at a Halloween party in October pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to the charges they face in connection to his death.
Those in court included 17-year-old Talan Renner, 20-year-old Dominic Turner, 17-year-old Talyn Vigil, 19-year-old Taylor Sherman and 17-year-old Jacob Meisner.
One of the accused, 18-year-old William Hines, did not appear at his hearing Wednesday but entered a plea of not guilty.
Scripps News Phoenix
The seventh charged in the case, 18-year-old Treston Billey, was not in court, and is expected to appear in court on Thursday.
Court paperwork indicates that a necklace was stolen from another victim in the violent incident, who was only listed in court records as "Victim A."
Police submit referral to charge 7 people in Arizona teen's death
Police say the charges are against juvenile suspects and adults in relation to the deadly incident.
At some point after, Lord and a group went running and were chased before the attack took place. Lord died two days after the Oct. 28 attack in Queen Creek.
Family, friends and community members have been pushing for justice in the attack for months, including a candlelight vigil held just after the arrests were made last week. The attack brought attention to a string of violent attacks involving teens in the East Valley, dating back to late 2022.
Scripps News Phoenix
Multiple East Valley agencies have since made dozens of arrests in multiple cases regarding teen violence.More cases remain under investigation.
Scripps News Phoenix also reportedthat multiple Maricopa County Sheriff's deputies were reassigned after escorting the parents of a suspect in the killing of Lord to their vehicle after his court appearance last week.
This story was originally published by Scripps News Phoenix.
