The brother of a teenager accused of killing Preston Lord has gone to prison for drugs

The brother of a teenager accused of murdering Preston Lord will be freed for his involvement in a ‘Gilbert Goons’ hit – after completing a two-year prison sentence on drugs charges.

Kyler Renner, 19, pleaded guilty in September to aggravated assault in a December 2022 fight in a downtown Gilbert parking lot and separately to several drug charges.

A judge on Thursday gave Renner a prison sentence for possession of drugs for sale and ordered him to serve three years of probation for the assault and remaining drug charges.

“It’s not just about you being involved in an attack. It’s not just about you possessing drugs… It’s not even just about you selling drugs. It’s everything,” said the judge from Maricopa County Superior Court Bruce Cohen. “You were a one-man wrecking crew in criminal activity.”

Kyler Renner is the brother of 18-year-old Talan Renner, who is one of the seven people accused of killing the Lord, 16. Talan Renner, that is out on bailpleaded not guilty.

Their father, Travis Renner, was arrested in January on suspicion of violating drug laws. A judge on Monday granted a prosecutor’s motion to have his case stayed for two years so he can complete a diversion program, according to court records.

Renner’s family members read letters of support during Kyler Renner’s sentencing, saying he had a difficult upbringing and a negative relationship with drugs but has made positive changes. Renner also spoke in court, admitting to “past transgressions” in several aspects of his life.

“At a very young age, I was mixed with the wrong crowd and surrounded by negative influences,” Renner said. He became addicted to drugs over time, which led him to make bad choices, he said.

“After cleaning up my life and getting sober, I look back in disbelief that I was the one who committed these crimes. None of this is something I would ever do if I was sober,” Renner said.

A December investigation by The Arizona Republic linked the killing of the Lord of Goons, a gang of teenagers whose violence went unchecked by the authorities, even as the attacks were recorded and broadcast via social media. Research on some beatings has been dismissed; others were not on the police radar.

Cohen, who has presided over many Goons cases, told Renner he did not believe he was a member of the group, saying there was some debate in the community about whether it was a street gang. Police officers in May he said he was.

“No one I’ve met yet is a member of the Gilbert Goons, so it must be one of those campfire folklore stories people tell on camping trips about the moss man,” Cohen said.

But, he said, there was a group of young people, which he believes includes Kyler Renner, who “did nothing good.”

Extended version of the “Gilbert Goons” parking garage fight.

A 48-second video obtained by The Arizona Republic shows an unidentified person on the ground, reaching into his pants and pulling out a black handgun.

Teen kicked victim in the head: ‘So vile and so despicable’, judge says

Kyle Renner in January he was arrested in connection with two beatings in late 2022, but was only charged with the December 3, 2022, attack in the garage.

A report was filed the night of the beating, but police said there were no witnesses or video evidence available at the time of the assault, and the case lay dormant for more than a year — until an unidentified party provided a 28-second video of the assault.

The video, which shows a victim being thrown to the ground and then punched and kicked, was used by authorities to file charges against Kyler Renner, Gage Garrison, 20, and Jack Woods, 18. Garrison and Woods accepted plea deals and received probation.

A longer video of the fight, obtained by The Arizona Republic, shows that before the attack, an unidentified person in the parking lot had a gun. Woods’ father argued longer video displayed his son and his friends were threatened.

At Thursday’s hearing, Cohen acknowledged the gun and whether it changed the circumstances of the attack, but told Renner he was considering his guilty plea and not debating an issue that “hasn’t been litigated.”

“What I have to decide is did you, during an attack, hit somebody in the head? The answer to that seems to be, yes, you did,” Cohen said. “What does it take for someone who claims to be the kind of human being you are to hit someone in the head? This act itself is so vile and so heinous, and such disregard is needed for his welfare. someone else.”

Elena Santa Cruz is a criminal justice reporter for The Republic. Get to her at [email protected]. Follow X @ecsantacruz3.

Robert Anglen is an investigative reporter for The Republic. Get to him at [email protected]. Follow X @robertanglen.