Six of the seven suspects arrested in the fatal beating of an Arizona teenager last October pleaded not guilty as accusations swirled that the father of one of the group tried to cover up his son's part in the killing, according to reports.
The seven face fire-degree murder and kidnapping charges in connection to the death of Preston Lord, 16, on Oct. 28, 2023, after a Halloween Party.
Lord died in a hospital two days after the attack.
William Owen Hines, 18; Jacob Meisner, 17; Talan Renner, 17; Taylor Sherman, 19; Dominic Turner, 20; and Talyn Vigil, 17, pleaded not guilty Wednesday in Maricopa County Superior Court, AZCentral reported.
Meisner and Turner also pleaded not guilty to aggravated robbery charges, the outlet said.
An arraignment for the seventh suspect, Treston Billey, 18, was scheduled for Thursday.
All seven have been ordered held on $1 million bonds, and Renner, Vigil and Meisner will be tried as adults.
Lord's father, Nick Lord, and the boy's stepmother, Melissa Ciconte, were also at the hearing, along with friends and family.
"I'm excited to get this started," NIck Lord said, AZCentral reported.
Also present was Travis Renner, the father of Talan Renner, a high school football star.
A former employee of Renner's, Ashely Reynolds, told the Arizona Republic that Renner and Adam Kifer, the CEO of Relentless Media Agency, talked about trying to put the blame on another boy with a "similar name" shortly after Lord's beating, the Daily Mail reported.
She said she was asked to backdate calendar entries to show that Talan was out of town on the day of the attack, the report said.
Kifer has denied the accusations.
