More than a year after three friends who attended a football watch party in Missouri were found dead in a backyard, two men, including the party’s host, have been charged in relation to their deaths, the Kansas City Police Department announced Wednesday.
The party’s host, Jordan Willis, and the friend group’s alleged cocaine dealer, Ivory J. Carson, were each charged with three counts of involuntary manslaughter and two counts of delivery of a controlled substance in the deaths of Clayton McGeeney, 36, Ricky Johnson, 38, and David Harrington, 37, according to court documents obtained by HuffPost.
The three friends were found dead in Willis’s backyard in Kansas City last year due to fentanyl and cocaine toxicity.
Willis’ attorney, John Picerno, shared a press release with HuffPost on Thursday, stating that he and his client “are surprised” by the charges. He added that the charges are “contrary to what the prosecuting attorney’s office” told him several months ago.
Police responded to Willis’s rental home on Jan. 9 last year after receiving a call from McGeeney’s fiancée, who had gone to the home looking for him. She said she had been unable to contact McGeeney, but knew he had been at Willis’ home two nights before to watch the Kansas City Chiefs game with friends.
When the fiancée got to the door of the home, no one responded, prompting her to enter through a basement window. She ultimately found the body of one of the men on the back patio, according to the probable cause statement. Detectives later discovered all three friends deceased in the backyard.
One witness told police that they had been at Harrington’s home using cocaine, along with the other two victims, Willis and another friend on the day of the watch party. The witness said the cocaine had been supplied by Willis, according to the probable cause statement.
The witness did not attend Willis’ party, but named Ivory J. Carson as the group’s cocaine dealer, investigators said. Carson allegedly admitted that he had previously sold cocaine by the gram to Willis and the victims.
McGeeney’s fiancée told detectives that she knew he used cocaine when he was with his friends, adding that Willis would usually provide the drug when her fiancé “would get low on money,” according to the probable cause statement. She also told the detective she knew McGeeney and Johnson did not have money prior to the Chiefs watch party.
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Picerno, Willis’ attorney, said in the press release that his client “maintains that he is not responsible for purchasing or supplying the drugs that led to the death of his three friends.” Willis told detectives he believed the victims possibly got ahold of fentanyl at some point that Sunday, according to the probable cause statement.