Parents Of 16-Year-Old Allegedly Beaten To Death Over Gold Chain File Lawsuit

The parents of an Arizona teenager who died after being attacked while leaving a Halloween party last year have filed a lawsuit naming the seven teens and young adults suspected of beating him as well as the residents of the home where the party took place.

Preston Lord, 16, died at a hospital following the Oct. 28 party at the home of Roberto and Emily Correa in Queen Creek, Arizona, according to the lawsuit filed Wednesday and obtained by FOX affiliate KSAZ-TV. His death, ultimately ruled a homicide, sparked a lengthy police investigation that resulted in murder charges for the seven suspects, who ranged in age from 17 to 20.

The civil lawsuit accuses them and the Correas of negligence, alleging the two adults were responsible for the almost 200 people, many of them minors, who attended the party.

The lawsuit said the house party was advertised on social media as a “Halloween Rager,” with an open invite where alcohol was served. The Correas were inside the home at the time and allegedly not supervising the people in their backyard.

Roberto Correa only ended the party after hearing about an altercation, the lawsuit stated.

Queen Creek police previously said in a news release that they received a call to their nonemergency line about 9 p.m. Oct. 28 and later found a number of young people leaving the party. Officers were then diverted to a higher-priority call.

Police returned to the party less than an hour later to a call of an assault and found Lord in the road with life-threatening injuries, according to the news release. He was taken to the hospital and died two days later.

The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office told multiple local outlets that tensions began when Lord and a friend tried to get back a gold chain