More than a year after three men who went over to a friend’s house to watch a Kansas City Chiefs game were found dead in the friend’s back yard, charges have been filed in connection with their deaths.
Jordan Willis, 39, and Ivory Carson, 42, were each charged Wednesday with delivering a controlled substance and three counts of involuntary manslaughter, according to the Kansas City Star.
Case Update | Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Zahnd charged #JordanWillis and #IvoryCarson with:
delivery of a controlled substance (two counts)
involuntary manslaughter (three counts)
PCA | Redacted at source pic.twitter.com/iL5NBcwo4J
— 🇬🇧 Matt Blac Inc. #BeaVoice 🇺🇸 #Helpfindme 🌏 (@MattBlacInc) March 6, 2025
Ricky Johnson, 38, David Harrington, 37, and Clayton McGeeney, 36, were found dead in the back yard of Willis’s home two days after they went to watch the Chiefs game against Los Angeles Chargers on Jan. 7, 2024.
The men died of “fentanyl and cocaine toxicity,” officials said Wednesday.
“This case is a tragic reminder of the dangers of street drugs,” Platte County Prosecutor Eric Zahnd said. “But make no mistake, the people who supply those drugs can and will be held accountable when people overdose.”
Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves said getting the case right was more important than getting it done quickly.
“We’ve got to make sure that whatever case that we provide is the best for a successful prosecution. That’s what we’ve done here today. Unfortunately, sometimes these cases, especially ones that end with these particular dynamics, they’re hard to charge. You’ll find it throughout the United States, these cases are hard to charge, but we’ve done that here in Kansas City,” he said.
Will there be justice in this case?
John Picerno, the attorney for Willis, has said his client bore no responsibility for the deaths of his friends.
“We are surprised that Jordan was charged with the deaths of his three friends. That was contrary to what the prosecuting attorney’s office told me several months ago. The probable cause statement submitted by the state is consistent with what Jordan stated happened,” he said.
“Jordan maintains that he is not responsible for purchasing or supplying the drugs that led to the deaths of his three friends. We are very much looking forward to the day a jury gets to hear all of the evidence in this case,” he said.
Court documents said the fatal day began at Harrington’s house where cocaine allegedly supplied by Willis was being used.
Later, at Willis’s home the men consumed alcohol, marijuana and cocaine, court documents said, citing a witness who said he left while everyone was alive.
Court documents said that DNA from Willis was allegedly found on a bag of cocaine, while that of Carson was allegedly found on a bag containing fentanyl.
Willis has claimed that he went to bed on the night of the game without knowing his friends were in his back yard. Willis has said he did not know that friends and family members of his friends came to the house over the next two days in an effort to find out what happened to them.
“Some people seemed to believe charges would never be brought in this case, perhaps because the investigation has spanned more than a year,” Zahnd said, according to USA Today.
“Understand this: The Kansas City Police Department and my office do not rest on homicide cases until we have exhausted every possible resource to bring anyone we believe responsible to justice,” he said.
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