The first of seven defendants to cut a deal with prosecutors in the murder of Queen Creek teen Preston Lord learned his punishment on Friday afternoon.

Judge Scott McCoy sentenced 19-year-old William Owen Hines to 12 years in prison for Lord’s death. He was also sentenced to an additional five years (with credit for 456 days already served) after pleading guilty to vehicular aggravated assault in a separate case. The two sentences will be served consecutively.

“Our world has been shattered, and no parent should ever have to endure the pain of burying their child, especially under horrific circumstances,” said Nick Lord, Preston Lord’s father.

“William Hines has shown us through not just one, but a series of acts, that he is unfit for society,” Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said in a statement. “The fact that he inflicted harm on other victims did not give him pause as he continued his escalation that ended in the death of Preston Lord. Prison is the only appropriate outcome, and there is still more work to be done.”

According to the police report, Hines admitted to police that he was “drunk, heat of the moment” and kicked Lord one, two or three times before he started to back off. According to police documents, the attack was over a gold chain.

“One day I have a happy and healthy 16-year-old son, and the next day, I saw him lifeless in a hospital bed. One day I was helping Preston with homecoming, picking out his tie in excitement, and the next, I was choosing the one he’d be buried in,” Autumn Curiel, Preston’s mother, said before sentencing.

Queen Creek police recommended charges in December 2023, and county prosecutors indicted all seven on murder and other charges in March 2024.