GILBERT, Arizona — Teen violence is on the agenda for local leaders. Multiple city councils are expected to meet on the subject this week as they look for a concrete solution to the recent attacks.
It comes after several violent assaults on teens in the East Valley have come to light following the death of Queen Creek teen Preston Lord.
Three of Gilbert’s Town Council Members, Jim Torgeson, Scott Anderson and Chuck Bongiovanni, made the request this past week to discuss forming a teen violence subcommittee at their upcoming Tuesday night meeting.
“We can't comment to specifics of any case currently being investigated,” Bongiovanni told 12News in an emailed statement. “But our goal is to listen and work with the police and community to assess, listen to recommendations and to separate facts from assumptions at this time.”
“I am certain our police are doing their due diligence. They are supporting Queen Creek in every manner possible,” Torgeson told 12News in a written statement. “ I want to hear the public and their concerns.”
The idea of a specific subcommittee addressing teen violence is welcome news for Katey McPherson, a youth mental health advocate in the East Valley.
McPherson has been advocating for action and engagement with stakeholders on the issue.
“I hope there's some really specific outcomes, maybe two or three at the most, that are tangible and practical, and realistic,” McPherson said. “I think with all of this emotion and all of the tension in the community. We have to be really simple and really realistic about what we are able to do.”
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office is still reviewing submitted charges against seven people in Lord’s case.
The teen was brutally beaten after a Halloween Party in Queen Creek and died from his injuries in October.
RELATED: Here is what has happened in the Preston Lord homicide investigation in the last two months
Chandler City Councilmember Mark Stewart told 12News the council will also be discussing teen violence this week in light of Lord’s death and the spotlight on other attacks in the East Valley, and is wanting to hear from the community.
"I want them to know that we have a tremendous amount of empathy for what happened to Preston, and that we are diligently working on making sure that crimes like that - one, they don't happen. so that Chandler is known as a city that doesn't put up with that,” Stewart said.
It’s an issue McPherson doesn’t expect to go away quickly.
“We can’t eradicate teen violence overnight, we can’t take back what happened. But what we can do is come together and say, ‘What would work right now?’,” McPherson said.
The community is organizing to be at both councils’ meetings this week wearing orange. Gilbert’s Town Council Meeting is set to start at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Chandler’s meeting is set for Thursday evening.
“I think through the task force that they're putting together and the work that our police department is doing with them, the East Valley is attacking this issue together, and we're going to solve it,” Stewart said.
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