At a press conference in Queen Creek on March 6, Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell announced the arrest of four people for the murder of 16-year-old Preston Lord. Three more people were arrested the next day.
Mitchell said the arrest was a “huge step forward” in getting justice for Lord, who was severely assaulted by teenagers at a Halloween party in Queen Creek on October 28. said. He died from his injuries two days later.
Media outlets have linked Lord’s murder to a spate of youth violence in the southeast Valley, some of which has been linked to a group called the Gilbert Goons.
Mitchell said her team spent “hundreds of hours recording and receiving evidence for Lord’s murder alone,” including a 2,000-page Queen Creek Police Department homicide report and 600 videos submitted by the department. ” he said.
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The county attorney said the county attorney interfered with a special investigative grand jury that issued subpoenas and took testimony from witnesses on February 7. This is different from a regular grand jury, which hears several cases a day.
If there is any doubt that Lord’s murder is receiving special scrutiny, consider Mitchell’s words at a Jan. 24 press conference in his office in downtown Phoenix.
Mitchell told reporters who pressed him about the investigation into Lord that he had met with Lord’s family, but admitted they don’t usually meet. And she was briefed daily by staff on reviewing the evidence.
Asked how many people in his office work on Rhode cases, Mitchell declined to give a number, but said there are investigators, prosecutors, support staff, victim advocates, crime analysts and others dedicated to the case. He said he had a paralegal.
Considering that, Exciting media coverage and public outcry It’s no surprise that Mitchell, who is running for re-election this year, would devote much of his office’s resources to investigating Lord’s murder.
But most murders in Maricopa County don’t get Preston Road treatment. This is important because there has been a lot of bloodshed in this county.
There were 283 homicides and non-negligent homicides in Maricopa County in 2023, according to the latest statistics from the Arizona Department of Public Safety. Most of those have occurred in Phoenix, with 198 cases according to the Phoenix Police Department.
In contrast, the Gilbert Police Department reported four homicides in 2023, and Chandler reported seven homicides, according to DPS statistics. Queen Creek reported zero. (Apparently, Lorde’s murder doesn’t count yet.)
MCAO’s online “data dashboard” further revealed that five of Phoenix’s eight police precincts referred more cases to MCAO for prosecution than Queen Creek, Gilbert and Chandler.
Without a doubt, these three cities are among the safest places to live in Maricopa County. They are also quite wealthy. Phoenix has a high poverty rate and a low median income.
Nevertheless, the Preston Road incident and the Gilbert Goons have dominated local media in recent months.
This is not to say that the public should not have been outraged or that the media should not have reported on the incident. But I can’t help but wonder: Where is Phoenix’s anger towards the dead? Where is the media fire demanding Mitchell to take revenge for the fallen?
Indeed, the wheel squeak is from WD-40. I witnessed it at Mitchell’s January 24 press conference, where Preston Lord’s name was the only thing on nearly every reporter’s lips. One local news station had three reporters present to ask Mitchell questions about Lord. Another news organization also sent two.
Journalists effectively called for charges against Mr. Mitchell. To her credit, Ms. Mitchell pushed back, pointing out that you can’t just prosecute people you want to prosecute.
Reporters asked her about legislative attempts to ban brass knuckles, which have reportedly been used in some goon attacks.
Mitchell responded that with or without a restraining order, there will always be a weapon present when it comes to murder, whether it’s a fist or a foot.
I recently interviewed a West Phoenix mother about the son she lost to gun violence. She said she wished the attack on her son had been carried out with brass knuckles instead of a Glock. Then he might still be alive.
Phoenix’s crime problem is exacerbated by the Phoenix Police Department’s understaffing. The department is cutting more than 560 police officers. The Cold Case Homicide Unit has three sworn police officers and two civilian investigators and has more than 3,000 unsolved murders.
As for gangs in the Valley, former DPS Director Heston Silbert recently told me they number in the hundreds. MCAO’s data dashboard lists law enforcement referrals associated with 29 different gangs. Gilbert Goons is not on the list. It may be a gang, but it’s not the most dangerous or prolific organization in the county.
This is not to downplay youth violence in the Southeast Valley. The public, the media, and law enforcement were right to demand justice for Preston Lord and his family.
But Maricopa County is home to many victims and grieving relatives. They deserve equal resources, sympathy, and the same indignation against the criminals who harmed them.
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