Kansas City Chiefs watch party organizer Jordan Willis entered a rehabilitation facility shortly after three of his friends were found dead in his backyard, a person close to his family said. The move could be an attempt to “prevent” potential criminal charges, it said. Experts told Fox News Digital that the choice is between increasing the number of deaths or reducing the resulting sentences.
The bodies of Ricky Johnson, 38, Clayton McGeeney, 36, and David Harrington, 37, were found in Willis’ backyard. kansas city police department on January 9, two days after he was last seen at a watch party inside the house.
Video footage shows responding police questioning Willis, who was wearing boxers, on his doorstep that night and searching his home, but the department said the men’s deaths were “not being investigated as 100 percent homicide.” There is. Willis and another man who was at the home during the Chiefs game, Alex Wiemer Lee, have not been accused of any wrongdoing by police.
Meanwhile, the families of the three people killed met Wednesday with Platte County prosecutors who will oversee potential criminal charges in the case, FOX4 Kansas City reported.
Kansas City Chiefs fans: Jordan Willis enters rehab facility as family awaits toxicology test results
David Harrington, Clayton McGeeney, and Ricky Johnson were found dead outside a friend’s home in Kansas City on January 9, 2024. (Ricky Johnson/Facebook)
“I want to know what action is being taken. That’s the most important thing. What action is being taken,” said Caleb McGeeney, McGeeney’s cousin. FOX4 Kansas City.
Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Zahnd told the outlet that his office is still waiting for the Kansas City Police Department’s portion of the investigation to be completed at this time.
Harrington’s father previously told Fox News Digital after meeting with the Platte County Prosecutor’s Office that he is “hopeful that the police will treat this as a drug overdose and continue their work.”
“I think that’s the defense of the case: They bought the drugs through a fourth party and three people died and he just happened to be alive.”
“But I don’t think it’s that simple,” he said last week. “We know they may have used questionable drugs, but the idea was to get high, not die…If they were supposed to be friends, why didn’t they?” Did you?” [Willis] Come and find out. I’m sure they have a hundred different answers to that, but that’s my question. ”
A source close to Willis’ family told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that the 38-year-old HIV scientist’s friend’s death was a “very heartbreaking wake-up call,” and that Willis was “in the hospital to deal with his feelings.” I entered the facility,” he said. After moving his belongings into storage and vacating the house where he died, he gave up addiction head on.
Kansas City Chiefs fan found dead in friend’s backyard: What you need to know
But attorney and former New York City police lieutenant Paul Mauro told Fox News Digital that the announcement was an attempt to garner “sympathy in the court of public opinion,” or a pre-emptive attempt to get a shorter sentence if he was charged with a crime. He said it could be a similar move.
“I think they’re trying to capitalize on people’s sympathy that he had a drug problem,” Mauro said. “This confirms what many of us have suspected: There may be drugs in there that they didn’t know about.”
Experts have previously considered the men’s mysterious deaths, suggesting that fentanyl or another drug that causes disorientation may have caused the men to fall into sub-zero temperatures, causing them to lose consciousness and die from hypothermia. I assumed there was.
“I think they’re trying to capitalize on people’s sympathy that he had a drug problem.”
Neema RahmaniA Los Angeles-based attorney and former federal prosecutor told Fox News Digital that if Willis or Wie Marley are charged in the man’s death, they could use their time at a rehabilitation facility to reduce their sentences. He said it was sexual.
“This is mitigating evidence. Someone is trying to turn their life around and the judge and prosecutor take that into consideration,” Rahmani said Thursday. “You can persuade a judge to sentence you at the lower end of the punishment range, or you can persuade a prosecutor not to prosecute the most serious crimes.”
Kansas City Chiefs fan’s death: Drugs and frigid weather may have caused fatal condition, experts say
Jordan Willis, 38, an HIV scientist, entered a rehabilitation facility after three of his friends were found dead in his backyard on January 9th. (GitHub)
“In terms of the defense, what I expect them to say is; [Willis]”He was a victim too. He was also drugged, but he survived,” Rahmani said. “I think that’s the defense of this case. They bought drugs through a fourth party, three people died, and he happened to be living there.”
Rahmani said entering a rehab facility will not prevent charges or prosecution if evidence is found implicating Willis or Wiemar Lee in the men’s deaths. Similarly, he said a judge would not be swayed if someone sold or procured drugs without knowing they contained lethal doses of fentanyl.
“When you take drugs, you are legally responsible for your actions. Voluntary drug use is not a legal defense,” Rahmani said. “Involuntary drug use during intoxication is the only effective defense.”
In Missouri, a felony death can result in a felony murder charge, said Daniel Miller, a criminal defense attorney and former Platte County prosecutor.
Kansas City chief watch party host is seen on video being handcuffed after friend’s body is discovered
An exterior view of the backyard and porch of Jordan Willis’ home in Kansas City, Missouri, on Friday, January 26, 2024. The bodies of three of Willis’ friends, Ricky Johnson, Clayton McGeeney, and David Harrington, were found in Willis’ backyard. , a body was found on a porch on January 9, 2024, two days after attending a Kansas City Chiefs home game party. (DWS on Fox News Digital)
“But before we can charge a felony murder charge, we need to have evidence of the drug and who possessed it and who took it,” Miller said Thursday. “If we can get evidence that he made a felony drug sale there and the men died as a result of that drug sale, then felony murder is possible, but not guaranteed.”
He said even if sufficient evidence were found, a rehabilitation period would not prevent Willis from facing criminal charges.
“I don’t know what mitigation there is when you have three victims and they’re saying you’re criminally responsible,” Miller said. “Whether you say, ‘We took a lot of opiates and drugs,’ [or] We played with a lot of snakes,’ or something like that.If they impose criminal charges on you, I don’t know of any way to mitigate it – you will be pushed to the limit. [in sentencing]. ”
Mr. Miller said if Willis or Wiemer Lee were his clients, he would not speak to the press. Lee’s attorney, Andrew Talzi, has declined to comment publicly since his initial interview with FOX4 Kansas City, but Willis’ attorney, John Picerno, said that between Jan. 7 and Jan. 9, The family’s claims about the change in the client’s behavior during the trial are under scrutiny.
“There is a strategy. They think they can solve this problem in advance.”
Additionally, Miller said he would be “reluctant” to send Willis to a rehab facility.
“When you go into a rehab facility, you can start confessing to criminal activity,” Miller said. “Almost everything is about the doctor-patient relationship.” [privilege], but there are exceptions to everything…I certainly don’t think the Fox News reporter knew he was in a rehab facility. ”
“If he’s shaking and he’s got snot running down his nose and he says he needs it, I’ll send him to a remote mountain in Washington state for rehab, where he and I It’s just Sasquatch,” Miller said. “I’ll probably tell him to stay there.”
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Coach Miller said of Willis’ defense, “They have a strategy. They think they can get away before this.” “They can think what they want, but I don’t care where they send him. If they think three of his friends overdosed and left their bodies in the backyard for 48 hours to freeze to death. If he proves that he is criminally responsible for [he’s] Even with that help you won’t get very far [his] Sentence. “
