PHOENIX — A 19-year-old suspect in the Preston Lord murder case has had his bond reduced less than a month after another suspect in the case was released from custody.
Treston Billey was being held on a $1 million bond, but it was reduced to a $500,000 secured appearance bond in court on Tuesday morning.
If he is released, he will be under electronic monitoring and on house arrest.
Earlier this month, attorneys filed a motion asking a judge to reduce Billey’s bond to $200,000.
Another suspect in the Lord murder case, Taylor Sherman, was released from custody on July 3 after having his bond reduced.
Both Sherman and Billey are two of the seven suspects that have been charged with the murder of Preston Lord. The 16-year-old was beaten at a Halloween Party in October 2023 and later died. All seven suspects are charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping, but Billey is one of three who is also charged with aggravated robbery.
The motion was originally filed by Billey's attorneys on July 10, asking the court to lower their client's bond to $200,000.
Prosecutors in their reply expressed concerns about Billey writing that there is "...substantial evidence that the Defendant participated in both the robbery of Victim A and the murder of Victim B" (Lord).
"We do believe that [Billey] was the catalyst of this event where it was him approaching the first victim in the first place that got this whole thing going and started," said Deputy County Attorney Bernita Clark in court Tuesday.
Those court documents also detailed concerns regarding Billey's familial support. Prosecutors wrote that the teen's room had been "repurposed" in the months following the attack. Prosecutors insisted geolocations showed Billey at times in New Mexico and possibly Colorado.
In addition, they said video and pictures found on phones and social media show Billey "...frequently mishandled and even pointed firearms at others while intoxicated." The State attached videos for Judge Bruce Cohen to review.
Judge Cohen told everyone in the court Tuesday that equipment wasn't working, and he had not viewed the State's attachments.
Billey's attorneys pushed back on the relevance of the videos, which were not played in court, and disputed some of the claims made by prosecutors.
"There's no indication that he's ever used a gun as a threat to anybody or anything like that," said Billey's attorney Eric Crocker.
His attorneys insisted they also had videos to show the court that challenged Billey's alleged role in the case. But neither sets of videos were played by defense counsel or prosecutors.
Crocker also said that Billey was in Colorado when a warrant was issued for the teen's arrest. He said his client had a scholarship opportunity at a trade school.
"Preston was sucker punched, surrounded and attacked by several others," said Preston's mom Autumn Curiel in court.
Tuesday was the first time Curiel has spoken, telling the Judge Billey is a threat to the community. She along with their family attorney, Bryn DeFusco, both asked the Judge not to lower Billey's bond.
"I can't even begin to tell you what my family has endured, and continues to endure by losing Preston," said Curiel. "But our safety as well as the public needs to stay and be protected from this individual."
DeFusco didn't have a statement to add after court.
Billey's parents, who also attended Tuesday, also didn't have a comment.
"Obviously, the state wanted to keep talking about the facts, as they see it," said Crocker as he left court. "But this hearing is not necessarily about that. It's about so much more under the rules."
As of Tuesday, Billey appeared to still be in custody.
All seven suspects have pleaded not guilty and will be back in court August 8.
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