2 men plead not guilty in drug overdose deaths of 3 Kansas City Chiefs fans after game

PLATTE CITY, Mo. (AP) — Two men pleaded not guilty Thursday in the drug overdose deaths of three Kansas City Chiefs fans whose bodies were found in a backyard two days after they got together to watch the final game of the regular season in 2024.

Jordan Willis and Ivory Carson appeared separately via video from the jail wearing orange jumpsuits. The men were charged Wednesday with three counts of involuntary manslaughter and two counts of delivery of a controlled substance in a case that gained widespread attention on social media.

Willis’ lawyer, John Picerno, entered the not guilty plea on Willis’ behalf, and the judge entered the plea on behalf of Carson, who doesn’t yet have an attorney and plans to apply for a public defender. The hearing lasted just minutes.

The judge set the next hearing date for Tuesday to consider whether bond should remain at $100,000 cash only.

Speculation about what happened started after 38-year-old Ricky Johnson, 36-year-old Clayton McGeeney and 37-year-old David Harrington were found dead in Willis’ Kansas City, Missouri, yard on Jan. 9, 2024, after McGeeney’s fiancee went looking for him.

With information sparse, the case got attention on TikTok and other social platforms. Family members of the three men took their frustrations to Kansas City-area media, questioning when there would be charges.

The filing of charges confirmed what some online sleuths had long assumed: The three men died of drugs. According to the probable cause statement, a doctor with a forensic lab later determined that the combined toxicity of fentanyl and cocaine killed them.

Witnesses said the friends used cocaine while watching the Chiefs play the Los Angeles Chargers together on Jan. 7, 2024, first at Harrington’s home and then Willis’ home. The witnesses said Willis had a history of offering cocaine to his friends when they were low on money and that he bought it from Carson, according to the probable cause statement.

Willis told police that he believed that McGeeney, Harrington and Johnson possibly got a hold of some fentanyl and that he thought they all left his home around 4 a.m., the morning after the game

Weather records indicate the low temperature that night was around 33 degrees (1 degree Celsius).

Investigators interviewed Carson, who admitted to selling cocaine to Johnson, Willis, Harrington and McGeeney before Jan. 1, 2024, the probable cause statement says.

Picerno said there is no evidence that Willis bought the drugs that his friends ingested before their deaths, noting they had been partying all day. And he has said Willis didn’t know that they were still in his backyard — or that they needed medical attention — until police showed up.

“It has been a very, very long year for Jordan,” Picerno said. “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.”

FILE - This Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 photo shows Jordan Willis' house in Kansas City, Mo., where three Kansas City Chiefs NFL football fans were found dead in the backyard. (Tammy Ljungblad/The Kansas City Star via AP, File)

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family were evacuated overnight from the official governor’s residence after someone set fire to the building, police said Sunday.

No one was injured and the fire was extinguished, according to authorities.

The fire broke out overnight on the first night of the Jewish holiday of Passover, which Shapiro and his family had celebrated at the governor's official residence in the state capital of Harrisburg. Pennsylvania State Police said in a statement that, while the investigation was ongoing, they were “prepared to say at this time that this was an act of arson.”

State police gave no other details about the cause of the fire at the riverfront mansion but said it caused a “significant amount of damage” to a portion of the residence. Shapiro and his family had been in a different part of the residence, police said.

In a statement, Shapiro, viewed as a potential White House contender for the Democratic Party in 2028, said he and his family woke up at about 2 a.m. to bangs on the door from the Pennsylvania State Police after the fire broke out.

The Harrisburg Bureau of Fire was called to the residence and, while they worked to put out the fire, police evacuated Shapiro and his family from the residence safely, Shapiro said.

“Thank God no one was injured and the fire was extinguished,” Shapiro said in a statement.

On Sunday, fire damage was visible on the residence's south side, primarily to a large room often used for entertaining crowds and art displays. There was still a police presence early Sunday afternoon as yellow tape cordoned off an alleyway and an officer led a dog outside a iron security fence.

Shapiro splits his time between the mansion that has housed governors since it was built in the 1960s and a home in Abington, about 100 miles (161 kilometers) east. He posted a picture on social media Saturday of the family's Passover Seder table at the residence.

State police are leading the investigation. The agency offered a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

The windows and door is damaged from an overnight fire at the governor’s official residence on Sunday, April 13, 2025 in Harrisburg, Pa. (AP Photo/Marc Levy)

Investigators are on the scene after an overnight fire at the governor’s official residence on Sunday, April 13, 2025 in Harrisburg, Pa. (AP Photo/Marc Levy)

The windows and door is damaged from an overnight fire at the governor’s official residence on Sunday, April 13, 2025 in Harrisburg, Pa. (AP Photo/Marc Levy)

FILE - Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro delivers his budget address for the 2025-26 fiscal year to a joint session of the state House and Senate at the Capitol on Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025, in Harrisburg, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)