Summer is barely underway in the Valley, and Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell is already sounding the alarm about what happens when bored teenagers move from group chats to group beatings.
Mitchell warned Friday that teen violence across the Valley has climbed, and that the start of summer break could fuel more pack-style assaults. She said these incidents are not just scary headlines, they are the kind of choices that “steal [young people’s] chances at a future,” and she urged parents, schools and community groups to step in before more teenagers end up facing adult time in adult court.
According to Mitchell, her office charged 150 juveniles as adults in 2025, including 17 for first-degree murder, 39 for armed robbery and 60 for aggravated assault. She said 87 percent of those cases involved violent or gun-related offenses. Since Preston’s Law took effect in December, 63 people have been charged under the new statute, and more than half of those defendants are juveniles, figures she cited at a June 4 news conference, as reported by FOX 10 Phoenix.
Preston’s Law Targets ‘Swarming’ Attacks
The push for stiffer penalties now comes with a name. “Preston’s Law” creates a new aggravated assault category for so-called “swarming,” when an attacker has two or more accomplices present, and bumps those attacks up to a class four felony. As outlined by the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, the change was driven by high-profile East Valley cases and is meant to give prosecutors stronger tools to go after multiple people involved in a single beating, not just the one who throws the first punch.
How Prosecutors Are Responding
State lawmakers introduced and advanced versions of the bill after the 2023 Queen Creek killing that helped ignite the campaign for tighter laws, according to reporting by KJZZ. That legislative push sits on top of an existing Arizona legal framework that already lets prosecutors seek adult charges in some juvenile violent felony cases…