CHANDLER (AZFamily) -- Preston Lord's loved ones came together on Saturday afternoon to celebrate the passage of a new law named in his honor.

The 16-year-old was beaten to death in a group attack outside a Halloween party in Queen Creek in 2023, and his murder ignited a movement to end teen violence.

Seven young men were charged with Lord's murder, and most of those cases are still unfolding. While the court proceedings continue, Lord's family is happy about a different kind of legal win: "Preston's Law."

Through song, prayer, raffles and food, dozens of people gathered at The Stillery in Chandler to honor a teen gone too soon. Preston Lord's favorite color, orange, was on full display at the event.

Now, new legislation bearing his name aims to deter mob-style violence by establishing harsher penalties for aggressors in lopsided assaults, where two or more people target one victim.

"As we saw from the tragic situation with Preston it resulted in a young man dying and so what we want to do is cut that off at the pass. When you engage in that type of behavior it's not going to be a misdemeanor it's going to be felony and it's going to be a permanent felony on your record," said Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell.

Mitchell and the bill's sponsor, State Representative Matt Gress, joined Lord's family and friends.

"This should be a graduation party for Preston and he's not here," said Gress.

Lord's step-mom, Melissa Ciconte, echoed that bittersweet sentiment.

"Obviously we don't want to be here to celebrate this because unfortunately it has to do with Preston's passing, but we are proud that his legacy will live on and that we turned tragedy into triumph," said Ciconte.

The goal is to give police and prosecutors more ways to hold offenders accountable.

"Unfortunately Preston's case is a homicide. His life was taken, but somebody could be mob-style attacked and intentionally targeted and they can still endure physical harm that could put them in a coma, could paralyze them. There could be a multiple of other outcomes and this gives the families some tools to use to really press charges," said Ciconte.

Amid the excitement about the legislative win, remains the mission to keep Lord's memory alive.

This week, one of the seven defendants in Lord's murder was in court. Jacob Meisner turned down a plea deal. His defense argues he was not involved in the deadly beating.

William Owen Hines was the first defendant to be sentenced after accepting a plea deal, and he will be in prison for more than a decade.