Teen charged in Preston Lord killing posts bail, released from jail

A juvenile charged in connection with the fatal beating of Preston Lord was released from jail.

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office confirmed Friday that Talyn Vigil, 17, posted bail. He is under electronic monitoring, according to the Sheriff's Office. Vigil was arrested on March 6.

Lord, 16, died two days after he was assaulted at an Oct. 28 Halloween party in Queen Creek.

Vigil is one of seven people charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping in connection with Lord's death. A Maricopa County grand jury also indicted Treston Billey, 18; William "Owen" Hines, 18; Jacob Meisner, 17; Talan Renner, 17; Taylor Sherman, 19; and Dominic Turner, 20. Renner, Meisner and Vigil were charged as adults.

Billey, Meisner and Turner also were charged with aggravated robbery in connection with a necklace that authorities say was taken from Lord's friend as the attack unfolded.

A $1,000,000 bond amount was ordered for each of the defendants. The other six were still in custody as of Friday morning.

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Vigil had made incriminating statements about his involvement in Lord's death, according to an interview and a social media post. His former girlfriend told police that just minutes after the fatal beating, he climbed into a car and bragged: "I knocked that kid out."

The girl's mother recounted the moment to The Arizona Republic in a December interview. Karli Heinmiller said her daughter was interviewed by detectives who later had her walk them through the crime scene.

After the attack on Lord, Vigil appeared to make a confession on Snapchat. A screenshot of the post has circulated widely on social media and appears many times in police investigative records.

"I hit a kid and this kid feel hit his head and then they kicked his head in the ground then i got word he died so idk," the post read.

The Republic could not verify the authenticity of the post. The teenager and his parents have not responded to multiple interview requests about it.

A call to Vigil's attorney Friday was not immediately returned.

Reach reporter Elena Santa Cruz at elena.santacruz@gannett.com. Follow her on X: @ecsantacruz3.

Robert Anglen is an investigative reporter for The Republic. Reach him at robert.anglen@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on X: @robertanglen.