After more than a year, the cause of the deaths of the three Kansas City Chiefs fans who were found frozen in a friend’s backyard has been determined to have been a result of ‘fentanyl and cocaine toxicity’.
The bodies of 37-year-old David Harrington, 38-year-old Ricky Johnson and 36-year-old Clayton McGeeney were all found frozen in the backyard of a Kansas City property that their friend Jordan Willis had rented on January 9, 2024.
Temperatures had dropped well below freezing following a night of partying, as the four of them had met up to watch the Chiefs‘ final game of the 2023/24 season two days previously on January 7 – which saw them beat the LA Chargers at the SoFi Stadium by 13 – 12.
Their discovery was only made after McGeeney’s fiancé called the police and requested a welfare check be made after she grew concerned for his safety.
A police statement read that officers “responded to the back porch and confirmed there was a dead body. Upon further investigation, officers located two other dead bodies in the backyard.”
At the time of their deaths, cops believed there was ‘no obvious signs of foul play’. And now, more than a year later, the cause of death for the trio has been revealed.
David Harrington, Clayton McGeeney and Ricky Johnson (Facebook)
According to officials on Wednesday (5 March), an autopsy revealed that the NFL fans had died of ‘fentanyl and cocaine toxicity’.
This revelation comes as their friend Jordan Willis, who claims he was sleeping on the couch of the home for nearly two days, and Ivory Carson, who admitted to selling drugs to them, have been charged with three counts of involuntary manslaughter.
They also face two counts of delivery of a controlled substance – with the charges holding a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Their bonds are set at $100,000 cash.
Speaking about what his client faces, Willis’ attorney John Picerno said, as per AP: “It has been a very, very long year for Jordan.
Jordan Willis has been charged with three counts of involuntary manslaughter (Platte County Sheriff’s Office)
“He’s lost his job. He’s lost his home. He’s lost his friends. The public are pointing at him as someone who essentially killed them. And nothing could be further from the truth.”
When quizzed on where McGeeney, Harrington and Johnson had gotten the fentanyl from, Willis explained that he believed they had acquired it at some point on the Sunday (January 7, 2024), and that he assumed they had all left his home at around 4am the next morning.
Picerno previously denied Willis’ involvement in the case, telling PEOPLE in January 2024 that Willis was ‘unaware of how his friends died’, and how he was’ anxiously awaiting the results of the autopsy and toxicology report’.
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Having initially gone round to a friend’s house to watch the Kansas City Chiefs final game of the season, three of the five friends missing – only to be discovered two days later.
The bodies of David Harrington, aged 37, 38-year-old Ricky Johnson and 36-year-old Clayton McGeeney, were all found in the backyard of a Kansas City property that their friend Jordan Willis had rented, on January 9, 2024.
Now, Willis and Ivory Carson have been charged with three counts of involuntary manslaughter, as well as two counts of delivery of a controlled substance – with the charges holding a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Their bonds are set at $100,000 cash.
The corpses of the trio were only discovered after McGeeney’s fiancée called the police and requested a welfare check be made.
When the cops knocked on, it is understood that they informed Willis of his friends’ deaths – with him claiming to have been sleeping on the couch for almost two days following a heavy weekend.
The friends had met up to watch the Chiefs final game of the 2023/24 season, which saw them beat the LA Chargers at the SoFi Stadium by 13 – 12.
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The three men were found dead in the backyard (OX4 News Kansas City)
Each of the bodies were sent away and police hoped a toxicology report would shed more light on their deaths.
According to the probable cause statement, a doctor in the lab had determined the trio had combined fentanyl and cocaine in their blood at the time of death.
Speaking about what his client faces, Willis’ attorney John Picerno said per AP: “It has been a very, very long year for Jordan.
“He’s lost his job. He’s lost his home. He’s lost his friends. The public are pointing at him as someone who essentially killed them. And nothing could be further from the truth.”
When quizzed on where McGeeney, Harrington and Johnson had gotten the fentanyl from, Willis explained that he believed they had acquired it at some point on the Sunday (January 7, 2024), and that he assumed they had all left his home at around 4am the next morning.
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The trio were found in January (FOX4 News Kansas City)
A witness said they observed a plate with around half an ounce of cocaine at the house, and said everyone present was using it, KCTV reports.
They claimed Willis was ‘the only person in the group who could find and purchase that amount of cocaine’.
A probable cause document also stated Willis was a ‘major contributor’ to DNA on a bag of cocaine found at the scene, while Carson’s DNA was found on a bag of fentanyl.
Meanwhile, detectives interviewing Carson heard how he confessed to selling cocaine to the four friends but only before January 1, 2024.
Picerno told the outlet: “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.
“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.”
Family members speak out on Chiefs fans who were found dead in friend’s backyard after shocking update emerges
Clayton McGeeney, Ricky Johnson and David Harrington were found dead and frozen after gathering to watch the football game
Family members of three Kansas City Chiefs fans who were found dead in a backyard in Missouri have spoken out after authorities confirmed updates on the case.
The question of what happened to Clayton McGeeney, Ricky Johnson and David Harrington has plagued friends and family members ever since they were first found in the backyard of their friend Jordan Willis’ home in Kansas City, MO.
The trio were discovered dead and frozen on Willis’ property on January 9, two days after they were last seen alive inside the house where they had gathered to watch the Chiefs take on the Los Angeles Chargers.
Autopsies and toxicology reports for three men were completed in ‘late January’, according to a representative from Frontier Forensics Midwest LLC who spoke to Fox News Digital, but the results were suppressed at the time in light of an ongoing investigation.
Six months on from their deaths, family members have spoken out and claimed they’ve had a hard time getting answers from authorities.
Jennifer Marquez, the mother of David Harrington, told FOX4: “Through this whole thing I’ve had a hard time getting anybody to answer me.”
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The three men were found dead in the backyard. (FOX4 News Kansas City)
Jim McGeeney, the uncle of Clayton McGeeney, added: “My nephew died a tragic death along with two of his friends and nobody is being held accountable.”
The family members spoke out as Forensic Medical of Kansas revealed that the preliminary toxicology reports, which were released to the families and showed cocaine and fentanyl in the systems of the three men, have since been finalized.
In spite of the update, the medical examiner has still not released the official cause and manner of the men’s deaths, leaving their families in the dark.
Kelsie Gwartney, the chief of investigations and administrator at Forensic Medical of Kansas, confirmed: “All three autopsy reports were certified on January 31, 2024.”
Family members have been left frustrated over the lack of answers. (FOX4 News Kansas City)
Speaking in two separate statements, Gwartney added: “Yes, our office finalized cause and manners of death for all three of the referenced decedents.
“All three cases are under suppression status and not open records available for release at this time.”
Considering the amount of time that has passed since the deaths and the lack of updates from police and prosecutors, a lawyer close to the families expressed belief to FOX4 that charges in the case may never come.
Sharing the families’ frustrations, McGeeney said: “If your car blew up right now what happened, well, they’re going to find out what happened.
“If a plane crashes what are they going to do, get the black box, they can find out what happened, but with this, three dead men, they don’t do anything, it appears they don’t do anything and if they are, let us know.”
The investigation into the deaths remains open. In a statement to UNILAD, the Platte County Prosecutor’s Office commented: “This matter remains under active investigation. To protect the integrity of the ongoing investigation, we are unable to share details of the investigation at this time.
“We know the families of these three men want answers, and the Kansas City Police Department and my office are turning over every stone to try to obtain those answers.”
UNILAD has contacted the Kansas City Missouri police for comment.
Featured Image Credit: Facebook / FOX4 News Kansas City
Topics: Kansas City Chiefs, US News, Health
A girl who disappeared at the age of nearly two-years-old has since been found over 25 years later.
In October 1999, Andrea Michelle Reyes, aged just 23 months, went missing from her father’s home in New Haven, Connecticut, US.
Later that year, a felony warrant for custodial interference was issued for the arrest of her non-custodial mother, Rosa Tenorio Andrea.
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) states the last time anyone had contact with Andrea was on October 5, 1999, and it was believed Andrea had been taken by her mother to Puebla, Mexico.
Alongside a felony warrant for custodial interference being issued for Tenorio in 2009, another was allegedly issued in September, 2009.
However, the pair were never heard from and despite multiple agencies investigating – including the New Haven Department – she was never found and remained a missing person case in the NamUs, DNA Solves news release reports.
Andrea Michelle Reyes went missing at 23 months (NamUs)
Multiple images of what Andrea would look like at various points growing up were generated – five listed on NamUs’ website dating from 2010 to 2011 and 2014 – but it was to no avail.
In 2023, the case was reinvestigated by the New Haven Police Department and it led to a breakthrough – a woman reaching out to Andrea’s father in the belief she was his daughter.
New Haven Police Department then worked alongside Othram – which offers in-house processing of evidence, from DNA extraction, enrichment, and repair, to sequencing and genealogy – to test whether the connection was real.
Police got a DNA sample from the woman which was then compared to Andrea’s father’s DNA profile using ‘KinSNP® Rapid Relationship Testing’.
DNA Solves reveals: “This comparison supported a father/daughter relationship, confirming that the woman who reached out is, in fact, the nearly two-year-old girl kidnapped in October of 1999. Andrea Reyes, who is now 27 years old, resides in Mexico.”
Andrea Michelle Reyes was found after 25 years (DNA Solves)
It’s not publicly reported if Rosa Tenorio Andrea was located.
UNILAD has contacted NamUs and New Haven Police Department for comment.
The case is part of a wider project – titled Project 525 – led by Othram alongside the RTI research institute in charged of NamUs.
There are 525 juvenile cases published in NamUs – the project seeks to bring resolution to them all and Andrea’s case makes a promising start, marking ‘the seventh case in Connecticut’ where the technology has been used to help publicly identify an individual.
