Pod Insights Crime Weekly S3 Ep289: Crime Weekly News: Arrests Made in the Mysterious Deaths of Kansas City Chiefs Fans About this episode Over a year after three Kansas City Chiefs fans—Ricky Johnson Jr., David Harrington, and Clayton McGeeney—were found frozen in a friend's backyard, authorities have arrested two men in connection with their deaths. Jordan Willis, the homeowner and longtime friend of the victims, along with Ivory Carson, faces charges of involuntary manslaughter and delivery of controlled substances. Investigators allege that Carson supplied cocaine laced with fentanyl, leading to the tragic overdoses. DNA evidence reportedly links both men to the drugs found at the scene. In this episode, we delve into the details of the case, the evidence presented, and the questions that remain unanswered. We're coming to CrimeCon Denver! Use our code CRIMEWEEKLY for 10% off your tickets!https://www.crimecon.com/CC25Try our coffee!! - www. CriminalCoffeeCo.comBecome a Patreon member -- > ｿ https://www.patreon.com/CrimeWeeklyShop for your Crime Weekly gear here --> ｿ https://crimeweeklypodcast.com/shopYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/c/CrimeWeeklyPodcastWebsite: CrimeWeeklyPodcast.comInstagram: @CrimeWeeklyPodTwitter: @CrimeWeeklyPodFacebook: @CrimeWeeklyPod
Transcript Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.
0:14 Stephanie Harlowe? Hey everyone. Welcome back to Crime Weekly News. I'm Derrick Levasseur. And I'm Stephanie Harlow. And as you can see from the headline of this episode, we're going to be covering a case update. This was a case we covered a long time ago when it first came up. It was the mysterious deaths of three individuals. We're going to talk about them in a second, but basically we left the Crime Weekly News update not knowing what happened. We had speculated about some potential scenarios. But before we get into that, let me give you a little recap. In January of 2024, three Kansas City Chiefs fans, Clayton McGee, 36, David Harrington, 37, and Ricky Johnson, 38, were found deceased in the backyard of their friend Jordan Willis's Kansas City, Missouri home. The group had gathered on January 7th, 2024 to watch the Chiefs game,
0:58 Stephanie Harlowe? and their bodies were discovered two days later by McGee's fiancee after concerns arose as the men failed to return home. So we had talked about this case. We talked about Jordan Willis and how we thought there may be more to the story. How could these three individuals die in the backyard? It was cold. There was snow, whatever. But how could this all happen and him have no clue? For days. What transpired? Well, apparently, there's a major update. There's been arrests. And we weren't too far off, but Stephanie's going to give you the details. Yeah, so autopsies did determine that all three men died from combined fentanyl and cocaine toxicity. And following a 14-month investigation,
1:41 Stephanie Harlowe? Jordan Willis, who was the homeowner, or at least he was renting the home, and another man that we have not talked about before, Ivory Carson, they were charged with three counts of involuntary manslaughter and two counts of delivery of a controlled substance. And each charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. So kind of to to bring it all around where they're getting this from. As I said, we haven't heard of this Ivory Carson person before. We kind of suspected something was going on with Jordan Willis. Like, not saying that he had intentionally killed his friends, but it just seemed weird. That that he would sleep through it, that he didn't know they were out there, that he
2:26 Stephanie Harlowe? didn't know they were out there for days. The whole thing seemed kind of strange. Screamed of someone trying to cover their own ass. Yeah, and I mean, it kind of looks like that is what's happening now. So Carson was newly introduced to the case during Wednesday's news conference with the Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Zond and the Kansas City Police Chief Stacy Graves. So Zond cited a doctor with Forensic Medical of Kansas, and he confirmed Wednesday that the three men did die of fentanyl and cocaine combined toxicity that aligns with the toxicology reports obtained nearly a month after these three men were found dead. And at the time, sources told WAF, that's where we're getting the news report from, that the report detailed several substances
3:11 Stephanie Harlowe? found in the men's body, including cocaine and fentanyl. Now, the detectives found two plastic bags containing white powdery substance. One bag tested positive for cocaine, also had DNA from Jordan Willis on it. The contents of the second bag tested positive for fentanyl and had DNA belonging to Ivory Carson on it. So a witness told investigators that he'd actually been at the home with Willis, McGinnity, and Johnson on the night of the game, and he saw, quote, "a plate of cocaine allegedly supplied by Willis that everyone was using", end quote. Another witness reportedly told investigators that he was with Willis, McGee, Harrington, and Johnson at Willis's home after the Chiefs game, and at that point,
3:56 Stephanie Harlowe? they drank, smoked marijuana, and used cocaine. Now, there's also, according to Zond, text messages on Harrington's phone between the defendants, McGinnity, Johnson, and others, which allegedly showed that this Ivory Carson person had supplied him with cocaine. And investigators determined that as early as 1:30 a.m. on Monday, January Eighth Harrington, McGinnity and Johnson were alive. Jordan Willis, however, had gone to bed. Now, we're probably hopefully going to get some more information about this because if they were all using the same drugs. Yeah. You know, how would, how would three of them die from cocaine fentanyl toxicity? Because as, as we know, if there's fentanyl, then. Game over.
4:39 Stephanie Harlowe? Yeah. So how did that fentanyl end up in the cocaine? That only some of them consumed. Where it appears that at least Jordan Willis, who was also using these drugs did not, was not affected. You know, I think he's going to have to answer. That is, that is a question. I mean, bodies can react differently for sure. But I do wonder if he got lucky and maybe he didn't use what they had used, or maybe he had taken a smaller dose. Who knows? But. Or maybe they, they took the, took drugs out of the wrong bag, right? I mean, it's possible. I mean, I will also say that when you have these amateurs mixing this stuff. You even see with weed cookies sometimes where, and I'm not a huge weed person, but you can have weed cookies where
5:24 Stephanie Harlowe? you take a bite of the cookie and you're green, you green out. The dosage is off. You don't know. Yeah. The weed, it's not evenly distributed if it's not done from a licensed, you know, like professional. If it's not regulated, yeah. So, so you have these, these fillers like fentanyl being put in there and it's not evenly distributed. So the spot where unfortunately, these guys took it from could have been a higher, a higher level of fentanyl in it. But there's just such a small amount of fentanyl that you need in order to, yeah. So it's why would you even mess with this stuff? And they didn't say that one bag held cocaine and one bag held fentanyl. It just says that one bag tested positive for cocaine. And one bag tested positive for fentanyl. So it could have been cocaine in both bags, but only one bag had fentanyl in it. I'm sure it was.
6:06 Stephanie Harlowe? Maybe Jordan Willis didn't take cocaine out of that second bag, only the first. That's what I'm saying. A smaller dose. He didn't get a section of it where he got lucky and we talk about intentionality where some may think that this was done on purpose, right? And, and Jordan Willis may have known exactly what was going on. I don't necessarily think that's the case. I don't know Jordan, so I shouldn't say that definitively, but I don't think that's what happened here. More than like. You have four guys hanging out, have done drugs together before and are doing it again. And we're not trying to parent anybody out there. Listen, you guys are gonna do what you want to do. But if you're gonna do it, be safe about it. Make sure you know where you're getting it from. And have, they have test strips, man.
6:52 Stephanie Harlowe? Test strips, double, triple, quadruple check it because it only takes a small amount from the wrong person and it's gonna kill you. And that's what happened here. These guys are outside. They got normal lives. We had talked about them more at length in the last crime weekly news. They got family, they got friends, they got loved ones. Everyone is gonna miss them. Now they're gone. All because of the choice to use these drugs. Again, I'm not gonna sit here in victim blame and say you shouldn't use drugs. Obviously, you know what you shouldn't, shouldn't be doing. But at minimum, because I just don't want to see this happen to anybody else, just be really careful about what you're choosing to do and who you're getting your, your supply from. Because people are trying to stretch a buck and they will use fillers that can kill you, period.
7:37 Stephanie Harlowe? And so you want to make sure that you're doing the right thing and that's number one. We gotta make sure we're doing the right thing because one wrong decision here, you're watching a Chiefs game, you're getting together with some buddies. There's no real malicious intent behind it and it costs you a life. I can guarantee you they didn't expect that to happen. But do you have anything to say about that before we move on to the other side of this as far as the charges? So there is a civil suit that, um, I believe it was David Harrington's family who are filing against Carson and against, uh, Jordan Willis. So basically it's a hundred thousand dollars. Yep. And in the lawsuit, Harrington's father, John Harrington alleges that Willis and Carson both knew the dangers the drug posed,
8:22 Stephanie Harlowe? but still dished them out anyway. The lawsuit says, quote, defendant Willis and defendant Ivory knew or through the use of a reasonable degree of care, should have known of the presence of fentanyl and the dangers and hazards that it posed, including the possibility of being lethal to anyone that might ingest it and once Harrington began to suffer from the dangers and hazards of the cocaine and fentanyl the two men failed to render aid or otherwise attempt to rescue defendant from the impacts caused by the cocaine and fentanyl end quote I'm not sure how they they would know that oh well can I can I take a shot at it yeah personally and I wasn't even gonna go there mmm I don't think those three guys were outside when they died mm I think they were placed out there damn I think they died in the house while they're watching the game
9:06 Stephanie Harlowe? that would make sense why would you go outside all three of them just happened to be outside when the when the fentanyl kicks in come on now they could have been out there smoking a cigarette or whatever but I personally believe but then they all died at the same time no it could have been no but I'm seeing it that you how would you expect them to go outside and then all of them die at the same time because if one of them started having an overdose you'd think the other two would have called somebody or started banging on the window you're exactly right and that doesn't make any sense that they were outside when it happened and also in a lot of these cases there's a little bit of truth in the lie and I wouldn't be surprised if Jordan did fall asleep and when he woke up his three buddies were dead he might even called the offender and said hey yeah
9:49 Stephanie Harlowe? and said hey what the fuck is going on and at that point they realize they can't be found inside the home because then that rules out any possibility of an outside party being involved so they have to place him outside and make this look like a tragic accident or something else that doesn't involve Jordan and so that's what I think I think they were they were moved outside after the fact but it does bring up another question where why isn't Jordan being charged with obstruction because he he severely impeded this investigation by lying to law enforcement they would have to prove what you just said I think well I mean he's lying at minimum about the drugs he didn't tell law enforcement that they were doing drugs in the place not that we know but he did check himself into rehab right after
10:32 Stephanie Harlowe? right after yeah so maybe maybe there's more to the story that law enforcement didn't reveal that maybe he did say hey we used a little bit of something because I'm sure law enforcement found those bags right away and said hey Jordan what is this yeah and then the police talked to friends and the friends were like yeah Jordan's known for supplying cocaine to his friends when they're law and money and he usually gets it from this ivory guy but Jordan's lawyer John Pacino he says listen there's no evidence that Jordan bought the drugs that his friends ingest And he didn't have no idea that his friends were dead in his backyard or that they needed medical attention. He didn't know anything about it until the cops showed up. So that's where that's the hill that that Jordan's dying on right now. He knows nothing. He did nothing. And I do think that's gonna be a problem for the prosecution. Obviously, you're gonna have
11:17 Stephanie Harlowe? to present their case. Well, maybe they'll get Ivory to turn on him. There's gonna have to be something there where, like you said, Ivory turns on Willis or whatever. They're gonna have a case to build out what they believe happened. But I do agree with charging them both. So do I. You definitely have consciousness of guilt where Jordan took measures to separate himself from what happened to his friends. So he was he was doing that for a reason. What that reason is, the prosecution will have to prove it at court. But on a bigger, just a more macro level, I love the fact that they're charging Jordan and Ivory. I love the fact that they're holding people accountable because, yes, we have a fentanyl crisis. They're trying
11:58 Stephanie Harlowe? to close down the borders to keep it from coming over our borders. But you also have to deter people from using it here because if there's no accountability, it's gonna continue to happen. So having cases like this where you set a precedent where even if you're just the one supplying it, if someone dies based on what you supplied, even if you're just facilitating the transaction by having it occur in your home, you can be held criminally responsible, which I think would make a few reasonable people think twice about doing it. And that's the goal. Like I said, even from just going on Facebook and seeing people I knew in the past, people I went to high school with, and they keep dying, and it's always fentanyl
12:43 Stephanie Harlowe? overdose. You know, you know, they didn't intentionally consume this fentanyl. Everybody knows how dangerous it is. But I think it's also been very prevalently talked about on the news, in the media, and just amongst social circles. Hey, this fentanyl thing is out of hand. And there is always that fear that anything you're putting in your body, any illicit substance you're putting in your body could contain that. So you should take measures, like getting testing strips. I mean, I would say, take measures. Don't do that shit at all. Because Agreed. Um, because that's just for me, that's like, I have to depend on this testing strip. Now this testing strip could be expired. It could just mess up. Like, that's my life, you know, and there's no going back. The juice isn't worth the squeeze, not for a couple hours of partying.
13:25 Stephanie Harlowe? No, but overall, we're thinking of all the friends and family here. This is a tragedy for everybody. Because you have four guys who, again, are getting together to watch the football game. They want to enhance the experience, so they got some food, they got some drinks, and they got some drugs. And they took it one step too far. And the only way to prevent this would have been to not do it in the first place. So you have three males who have lost their life, and you have two other individuals who were there and luckily did not lose their lives, but there has to be accountability. And I think that's what we're seeing here is prosecution's gonna go for it. I do think they have an uphill battle. I think that Carson definitely has some problems as the main dealer.
14:10 Stephanie Harlowe? But like you said, if he rolls on Jordan and shows that Jordan's also dealing as well, and that's how we had the, you know, the supply, then Jordan's got some problems. And I do think the consciousness of guilt in this case will be a big factor. I don't know how forthright he was with law enforcement, but depending on that, and depending on whether or not they can prove that the bodies were moved to a location outside the residence. I would be interested to know that, yes. Right. I mean, snow, how, how was it, you know, what, what do they have to potentially prove to a jury that the bodies were found inside the residence and then moved outside to create some distance between Jordan and his friends, because he didn't obviously want to be held responsible.
14:53 Stephanie Harlowe? Police haven't said that the bodies are moved or anything. That's a theory of yours, but I think it's a valid theory based on the fact that it wouldn't make any sense for them to all just go outside. They all had their cell phones on them. You know, it wouldn't make sense for them to all go outside, sit down, and then boom, they're all three dead at the same time. They're, they're, it's gonna hit them at different times. And if one of them had started overdosing and, yeah, it was gonna hit them at different times, different metabolic rates. You're gonna feel sick. You're gonna feel sick. You're not gonna go outside. Yeah, one of, one of, even if they had been outside, one of them would run to get help from a neighbor. Like, it just doesn't make any sense the way that they were found, but I think it would be pretty easy because it doesn't say they died from hypothermia, right? It says they died from this fentanyl and cocaine toxicity. That's right. Yeah.
15:37 Stephanie Harlowe? Which means they were dead before they were exposed. Close to the cold, I would assume. I definitely think they were inside. That's just, we'll have to see what comes out at court, but it would make total sense. Because let's just say hypothetically, they're all found inside the house. So Detective Harlow goes in there. There's no sign of forced entry. Jordan's been in the house the entire time. The three guys get killed, but Jordan doesn't. Jordan's got some explaining to do. How did these three guys who are sitting on your couch right now dead die? He said he walked them out. Remember that he, that they left and then he went to bed? That's what he's saying. Uh huh. Because he can't just say, hey, I was sitting on the couch and they walked outside and never came back. Yeah. And now you may have had one of them. One of them could have gone outside because they got sick from the fentanyl.
16:21 Stephanie Harlowe? But to think that all three of them at the same time. All had a reaction to this drug. It's to me unlikely. Yeah. What's more reasonable is that they may have all been sitting on the couch watching the game. They could have all fallen asleep. Jordan might have fallen asleep on the couch or upstairs. And then you pass away. You pass away and he comes down and says, oh my God, what happened? And he's got to do something because he knows if they're found inside his house. There's only one real person who could be responsible for it, or at least have the knowledge to explain what happened. And so he puts them outside, which opens up this whole new can of worms, right? Did they die from hypothermia? Was this a tragic accident? Did someone encounter them in the backyard and take advantage of them?
17:05 Stephanie Harlowe? All these things went through your head. I'm sure if I went back and listened to our crime weekly news episode, we probably explored some of those theories. That's what you need to do by having them outside. That's what I think happened. I don't know if I believe that Jordan just fell asleep. I've never done this, but I've hung out with people who be doing cocaine. I love how you qualified that. That's great. I, I never have. Like I'm already high strong. Okay. I don't, I don't need that. Um, I like things that bring me down, you know, the natural. Things, but I've never done cocaine, but I've hung out with people who have done it and they are not sleepy people. Yeah. That's all I'll say. They are not sleepy people. But the, the drugs may have had an adverse effect on them. With the cocaine? The, the fentanyl.
17:46 Stephanie Harlowe? Well, but Jordan didn't consume any fentanyl, but he says he just went to sleep. He went to his bedroom and went to sleep. Like you've been doing cocaine all night. You're not going to sleep. You're not going to sleep till the sun comes up, dude. Yeah. In my opinion, he's definitely not telling the whole truth. And now we may have an indication as to why. There's something there. At minimum, he supplied the drugs. He feels guilty over it. He feels responsible for it. He's trying to avoid some type of legal battle, which he was unsuccessful in doing, but that's at minimum. There could be a lot more here. I'm looking forward to see how it plays out at trial. Someone needs to be held responsible. This is a, this is a tragic accident. It was preventable. It was avoidable.
18:27 Stephanie Harlowe? We have to make better decisions and hopefully the people responsible are held accountable for their actions. And other people out there who may think about dabbling in this type of stuff, see this case and say, you know what? If I'm going to do it, I'm going to do it by myself because I don't want to be responsible for something happening to someone else. It's not worth it. And like his John personal, uh, Jordan's attorney, he's like, you know, Jordan's lost everything, his job. His friends like blah, blah. Yeah. Yeah. And now you have a criminal legal case and a civil legal case. Okay. When in, in the end, like, like Derek said, for a couple of hours of having cocaine, doing cocaine and watching a game and having fun, like. Just, just drink beer like everyone else, man. Okay. You can have fun.
19:09 Stephanie Harlowe? And we don't know Jordan. I've said it before. I'll say it again. Sometimes good people make bad decisions. I don't know Jordan personally. He may be a great guy. He made a bad decision here. He's a smart guy, right? We know he's a scientist. Yeah, he's a scientist. So he, he does some things right, but he made a bad decision here. And in a lot of criminal cases that I've worked, that is what happens. Good people make bad decisions. Could be getting in a car to drive after drinking, whatever it might be, but one decision can change your entire life. Don't let that be you. We'll keep you guys updated on the case. If there's any twists, but you can follow along as well. Any final words, Stephanie Harlow? No, that's it. I'm glad we finally did get some like clarity because I always knew.
19:51 Stephanie Harlowe? Something didn't sit right. Yeah, something didn't sit right. So I'm glad we kind of finally have that like validated, but. We'll see. It's going to be a long road ahead for Jordan for sure. Absolutely. We'll be back later this week with Jennifer and Adriana Wicks's final part to the series. Part two, we're going to get into the theories from law enforcement. We're going to talk about the investigation. So you don't want to miss that. We'll see you on Friday for the audio and on YouTube on Sunday. Till then, everyone stays safe out there. Have a good night.
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