Gilbert Goons Arizona 'gang' fueled by social media: expert
Billie Tarascio, attorney at Modern Law in Arizona, says social media helped fuel the 'Gilbert Goons' gang violence.
Arizona officials are working to curb youth violence after a group of teenagers and young adults became friends in middle and elementary school and evolved into a suburban "hybrid gang" tied to various assaults and, now, a murder.
Seven members of the group are accused of murdering their 16-year-old peer, Preston Lord, on Halloween weekend last year in Queen Creek, Arizona, a wealthy suburb southeast of Phoenix.
Treston Billey, 18, Jacob Meisner, 17, Taylor Sherman, 19, Talan Renner, 17, Dominic Turner, 20, William Owen Hines, 18, and Talyn Vigil, 17, have all been charged in Lord's murder.
"How did a group of well-taken-care-of suburban boys — well-connected in the community, some of them who had great grades, played sports, went to church, had everything going from them — how did those boys end up in this hybrid gang?" Billie Tarascio, a Gilbert-based attorney with Modern Law, unaffiliated with the Gilbert Goons case, told Fox News Digital. "It's largely, I think, influenced by social media, specifically Snapchat."
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The seven suspects named in Preston Lord's murder are charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping. (Dignity Memorial)
Before the murder, various teens affiliated with the group had been accused of assaults across Maricopa County and general mischief in public places, including parking garages and fast-food restaurants, starting in about 2022.
The "Goons" are known for recording videos of assaults and underage drinking, some of which ended up on social media apps like Snapchat, which allows users to send photos that disappear immediately after they have been opened by the recipient. Some of the members fought with "brass knuckles," according to various witness accounts.
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In screenshots of messages between an alleged assault victim and two "Goons," the victim wrote, "[Y]'all jumped me w 20 people last time 2 [vs.] 20. I left with scratch … marks on my face," describing the Goons as "rich a-- white kids big a-- house w a car that ya daddy paid for."
Efforts to curb teen violence in Gilbert
"This case — like every case submitted to us — is a unique set of facts. That makes it difficult if not impossible to compare it to previous cases," a Maricopa County Attorney's Office spokesperson told Fox News Digital when asked if the prosecutor's office has ever seen a case like the Preston Lord murder.
On Wednesday, the county attorney's office launched a new "Report! Don't Repost" campaign, encouraging "parents and children — who see video of violent attacks in their social media — to report the videos AND the attacks to their local police department."
"Our message is a simple one: reposting videos like these exacerbates the problem. We want police to have this kind of information so they can develop cases that would ultimately be submitted to us for potential prosecution," the county attorney's office said.
How the Gilbert Goons formed
Thousands of Queen Creek Police Department records obtained by Fox News Digital through a records request paint a bigger picture of how the "Goons" formed in Gilbert and how social media fueled that formation.
A witness who grew up with some of the members told police in an interview after Lord's death that the "Goons" began a long time ago "when this friend group was in elementary and middle school."
The seven suspects charged in Preston Lord's murder. (FOX 10 Phoenix)
She specifically mentioned Meisner, Renner and a third "Goon" who is not charged in Lord's murder as members of the group who became best friends in 6th grade.
"She stated the group calls themselves the ‘Goonies’ or the 'G'S.' She described it as more of a large friend group that hang[s] out. [The witness] stated she was called a Goon up until recently," a police report states.
"She confirmed she has recorded some of the past fights involving the goons. She stated the girls' job was to 'stay out of the way while their boyfriend...took the job. [She] said what made her [a] Gilbert Goon is just by hanging out and drinking."
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Another female witness called police to report that her son had been "followed by" the Gilbert Goons, who "have been terrorizing the community and many don't feel safe," the report states.
The three adult suspects charged in Preston Lord's murder. (FOX 10/Maricopa County)
"She advised the Gilbert Goons go around and look at attacking people in different places. She advised her son's roommate was hospitalized after being beat up by the Gilbert Goons, and now many kids are possessing firearms to protect themselves," the witness report alleges.
Preston Lord's murder
The Gilbert Goons began making headlines last fall, when they were accused of murdering Lord at a rambunctious Halloween party at a teenager's home that went horribly wrong over the course of just four hours.
The evening of Oct. 28 began at one house at 5 p.m., where some teens showed up to a party that they described as "Mormon kids that were, like, pretty sober," so they opted for a change of scenery and went to another location. Many teens made stops at several parties throughout the night.
A Snapchat post circulating that day advertised a "Halloween costume rager" with the address of the home that became the scene of the crime. The post also advertised free alcohol at the party, according to police documents.
Police later questioned the parents who own the home, identified as Roberto and Emily, who said they did not know about the flyer offering free booze at their house. They also told police there was no way the teenagers could have accessed alcohol at their home.
On Oct. 31, after police publicized a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to an arrest in Lord's death, one of the suspects texted, "My mom wants in on the [$10,000]," FOX 10 reported. (FOX 10 Phoenix)
"It should be noted, that when speaking with Roberto and Emily, I noticed that they both appeared to be drinking. Emily would look at me but was not speaking much during the interaction. She appeared to have a slight sway to her stance. Emily also had watery and bloodshot eyes. I then also noticed that Roberto had watery and bloodshot eyes. They had slurred speech and there was an odor of alcohol coming from their person," a police officer wrote.
The Oct. 28 party at their house attracted a crowd of more than 200 teenagers from over a dozen local high schools wearing Halloween costumes. One teenager's parents hosted the teens in their yard while they apparently drank inside, police reports show.
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Murder victim Preston Lord, a sophomore, was at the party that night with members of his basketball team. At one point, Lord’s friend took a video of a fight that ensued at the party. Suspect Preston Billey apparently asked him to delete the video, police records state.
After that moment, Billey and a group of older boys allegedly started following Lord and his friends, at one point coming up behind one of them and pulling a cheap gold chain he was wearing right off his neck.
Authorities gather near the site of Preston Lord's October 2023 murder. (FOX 10)
Lord and his friends began to run away from the group of perpetrators and hid behind some bushes, but the group caught up with them, and Renner allegedly punched Lord, knocking him out. Others allegedly kicked and beat the victim until someone finally said, "He’s out," and the group of attackers ran away, police wrote.
One witness saw "someone" climb over Lord and "dance on top of him" as he lay in the street. Other witnesses who found Lord in the road "dragged him" out of the road and onto someone’s property.
Police initially responded to reports of an assault in the area of 194th Street and Via Del Rancho in Queen Creek at 9:49 p.m. Oct. 28, 2023. Authorities later located Lord "in the roadway" and transported him to a nearby hospital to be treated for "life-threatening injuries."
He was pronounced dead two days later.
How social media fanned the flames
A large part of the Gilbert Goons' criminal activity stems from — and was highlighted on — social media. Apps like Snapchat and Instagram allegedly helped the Goons document their assaults and illegal possessions, including weapons, drugs and alcohol, according to police records.
A screenshot of surveillance footage showing the Gilbert Goons fighting in a parking garage. (Maricopa County/ FOX 10)
The group also reportedly came up with the name Gilbert Goons on Snapchat, according to The Arizona Republic.
After Lord's murder and before any charges were filed, the group members allegedly communicated with each other about his death, leading to some online "vigilantism," Tarascio said.
On Oct. 28, Renner allegedly said in a message shared around midnight, "I got in a fight, a big group fight, and killed a kid."
"I guess I'm just too strong."
Police received multiple tips showing screenshots of a Snapchat message Vigil allegedly sent to a friend, stating, "I hit a kid and this kid … hit his head and then they kicked his head in the ground then I got word he died so idk."
Screenshots of the message made rounds on social media pages before locals notified police about it, which is part of the reason the Maricopa County Attorney's Office just launched its "report don't repost" campaign this week.
On Oct. 28, Renner allegedly said in a message shared about midnight, "I got in a fight, a big group fight, and killed a kid." (Queen Creek PD)
Rumors spread through local high schools in text messages and on social media as days, weeks and months went by without arrests in Lord's murder. Some parents wrongly accused other parents and their children who were not involved in Lord's murder.
In text messages Oct. 30, one of the Goons sent a message that said, "BRO THAT KID DIED."
The next day, another message involving the Goons said, "Tresty or Talen might be getting charged with murder."
"It's not just these boys and the Gilbert Goons. We're watching that same behavior with groups of boys in our community and in every community," Tarascio said. "So, what happens is, kids are using Snapchat.
"They are underdeveloped. They make dumb decisions. Those dumb decisions might include taking naked pictures of themselves, sending naked pictures … to people, harassing people, threatening people, getting in fights, recording it and sharing it.
"They're getting more and more positive attention from social media. And they're hearing nothing from their parents and law enforcement, so their behavior escalates."
"And then what happens is they watch the popularity that comes from these videos. They're sensational, and they're getting all this feedback that says, ‘Yes, yes, keep sharing’ … and they do, and they keep amping it up. And now they're flashing guns, and they're flashing drugs," the family law attorney said.
The seven suspects were not charged until March. Each defendant is facing a first-degree murder charge, and they have all pleaded not guilty. Fox News Digital reached out to the defendants' attorneys.
The Queen Creek Police and Maricopa County Attorney's Office host a press conference about charges in the Preston Lord murder case. (FOX 10)
Attorney Eric Crocker, who is representing Treston Billey, called the case "troubling" because prosecutors are calling the Gilbert Goons a "hybrid gang," which is not defined under Arizona law.
"[T]here's concern whether my client can even get a fair trial," he told Fox News Digital, calling the "hybrid gang" term "highly prejudicial."
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Crocker added that Billey is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The other attorneys did not immediately respond.
All seven defendants appeared in court together for the first time Aug. 8. Their trial is not scheduled to begin until July 2025, but Renner's attorney reportedly thinks that time frame is unreasonable given the mounds of electronic and physical evidence to sort through in the case, according to ABC 15.
Snap Inc., the parent company of Snapchat, and Meta, which owns Instagram, did not respond to Fox News Digital. Both companies complied with law enforcement requests for information, according to police documents.
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