CHANDLER, Ariz — Teen violence was a central focus at Thursday night's Chandler City Council meeting. Dozens of community members showed up in orange, Preston Lord's favorite color, as his stepmother delivered a powerful speech.
Lord died after being assaulted at a Halloween party in Queen Creek in October 2023. His death brought to light several attacks on teens by other teens in the East Valley in the areas of Queen Creek and Gilbert.
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At the Jan. 11 council meeting, Melissa Ciconte, Lord's stepmother, asked councilmembers to adopt a campaign that educates youth on teen violence called "Be an Upstander, Not a Bystander". The campaign was started by an East Valley mental health advocate.
The goal of the campaign is to start mandatory education sessions in schools and provide resources for families and counselors in an effort to prevent more teen violence.
"The devastating loss of Preston's life was due to unnecessary violence. Our child will never be coming home and we need to prevent this from ever happening again," Ciconte said. "Empowering our youth and building their self-confidence, worth and value will support their outlook on life and give them the courage to stand up to bullying."
Chandler's police chief also spoke at the meeting. He said the Chandler Police Department has reviewed prior investigations with reported teen violence and did not find any association with the "Gilbert Goons".
Chandler's mayor said he acknowledges the widespread concerns on the issue and will not tolerate any form of violence.
"We will be taking information from this and entering it into what can we do to better meet the needs in our community," Mayor Kevin Hartke said. "And again, whether that is listening events, whether it is making sure that the message is going out in terms of situational awareness amongst our kids, we hope to convey the fact that our city is on top of potential violence."