Highlights
- Judge Sam Myers set Jacob Meisner's trial for Nov. 3, rejecting requests from both defense and prosecution to delay into 2027.
- Meisner's lawyers turned down a plea deal that would have carried a 7-to-21-year prison sentence, maintaining he was not responsible for Lord's death.
- A defense attorney said one grand jury witness recanted, claiming he never saw anyone matching Meisner's description near the attack.
- The five remaining defendants — Billey, Renner, Sherman, Turner and Vigil — have no trial dates set; a case management conference is scheduled for Nov. 10.
A Maricopa County judge has set a Nov. 3 trial date for Jacob Meisner, one of six defendants charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping in the 2023 beating death of Gilbert teenager Preston Lord, overruling both the defense and prosecution, who each sought more time.
Judge Sam Myers vacated the original Oct. 1 trial date and replaced it with the November date after hearing arguments Tuesday. Meisner's attorney sought a six-month continuance; prosecutors asked for early to mid-January. Myers rejected both. The sticking point on both sides was witness interviews: the state initially identified more than 320 potential witnesses before narrowing the list to roughly 50, and attorneys on both sides said scheduling had been slow because of the logistics of coordinating multiple defense teams. Meisner's attorney told the court approximately 30 witnesses remained to be interviewed and that completing them would take months. Myers was unconvinced, saying he could not understand how 30 interviews would require that long and that he believed counsel could finish them within six weeks.
The victim's family, represented by separate counsel, opposed any further delay. Their attorney told the court that each postponement forces the Lord family to relive the events without knowing when the case will resolve.
Meisner's defense team has been aggressive in challenging the state's evidence. At Tuesday's hearing, his attorney said the prosecution's case is weakening: 13 eyewitnesses could place Meisner at the scene, but the defense interviewed one of the three witnesses who testified before the grand jury and said that witness acknowledged he had not told the truth to police. According to the defense attorney, the witness said he never actually saw anyone matching Meisner's description near the attack. Meisner's lawyers previously turned down a plea offer that would have carried a sentence of between 7 and 21 years in prison.
All six defendants have pleaded not guilty. The five others, Treston Billey, Talan Renner, Taylor Sherman, Dominic Turner and Talyn Vigil, do not yet have trial dates. Myers scheduled a complex case management conference for all five on Nov. 10. Sherman's defense attorney suggested the cases would move sequentially once Meisner's trial begins.
Earlier this year, a judge granted motions to sever Renner and Meisner from the other four defendants, meaning each will be tried separately. Vigil's attorneys previously sought dismissal of his charges; Vigil also picked up two new criminal cases while on release, including a reckless driving charge and a case involving an order of protection in Gilbert.
The only defendant sentenced to date is William Owen Hines, who pleaded guilty and received 12 years in prison for Lord's death, plus a consecutive five-year term for a separate vehicular aggravated assault conviction. Hines admitted to kicking Lord at least once during the attack.
Lord died on Oct. 30, 2023, two days after the attack at a Halloween party in Gilbert. Prosecutors say a dispute over a stolen gold chain escalated into a confrontation; Lord and his friends fled but were chased and beaten. He was unconscious when police arrived, with injuries to his face and the back of his head. None of the seven suspects knew Lord before that night, according to court documents. The Maricopa County Attorney's Office declined to charge the homeowners who hosted the party, citing no reasonable likelihood of conviction; the couple later settled with Lord's family.
The case prompted legislative action: Gov. Katie Hobbs signed Preston's Law, establishing harsher penalties for group-style beatings, and several Valley cities banned teens from buying or owning brass knuckles, which were used in the attack.
A trial procedure conference for Meisner is set for Oct. 22.
Sources
Every factual claim in this article traces to one of the sources below. See how we work for the editorial process.
- AZ Family (3TV/CBS5) retrieved 16/09/2026 02:23
Authored by The Scottsdale Signal. Drafted by AI from primary-source material under our beat-specific editorial guides; reviewed by humans before publish under our five-gate process. Sources retrieved at 16/09/2026 02:23. Every claim traces to a source.
