Why Suspect Now Faces Murder Charges After 3 Chiefs Fans Were Found Dead in His Backyard (Exclusive Quotes)

More than a year after three Kansas City Chiefs fans were found dead in his backyard, Jordan Willis is now charged with their murders — even though, according to his attorney and family, he never expected to be. 

Willis, 39, and co-defendant Ivory “Blade” Carson are each facing three counts of second-degree felony murder and one count of distributing a controlled substance, according to an amended criminal complaint filed June 27 in Platte County Circuit Court and obtained by PEOPLE. 

The charges stem from the January 2024 deaths of Clayton McGeeney, 36, David Harrington, 37 and Ricky Johnson, 38 — three longtime friends who were found unresponsive in the backyard of Willis’s Kansas City rental home following a football watch party. 

As PEOPLE previously reported, the victims had gathered at Willis’s rental home on Jan. 7 to watch the Kansas City Chiefs play the Los Angeles Chargers. When they failed to returned home, loved ones began to worry. 

On Jan. 9, two days after the men were last seen alive, McGeeney’s fiancee forced her way into the home and found the three men dead in the backyard. 

All three victims died of “combined fentanyl and cocaine toxicity,” according to the charging documents. 

Now, prosecutors allege that Willis provided the drug that killed them — and that Carson supplied additional controlled substances in the weeks prior. 

Under Missouri law, anyone who causes a death during the commission of a separate felony — in this case, drug distribution — can be charged with felony murder, even if the death wasn’t intentional. 

Willis’ attorney, John Picerno, called the charges an unusual use of Missouri’s felony murder law. 

“In 30 years of state practice, I’ve never seen it used quite like this,” he tells PEOPLE.

Willis and Carson had previously been charged only with drug distribution — and were offered a plea deal that would have capped their sentences at 10 years behind bars.  

“They both turned down the prosecutor’s plea offer to lesser charges,” Willis’ attorney, John Picerno, told PEOPLE. “As is usual for the prosecutors, they have upgraded their charges.”

“It wasn’t much of a consideration,” he continued. “Jordan has maintained since day one he is not responsible for their deaths — he never even considered pleading guilty.”

Picerno said he will soon file a motion to sever Willis’s case from Carson’s, arguing that the men should not be tried together. 

“There is going to be evidence introduced against him that shouldn’t be used against Jordan,” he noted. “I don’t want my guy associated with him.”

PEOPLE could not reach Carson’s attorney for comment. 

Picerno suggested that prosecutors had previously told him only Carson would face serious charges — and said that the case was inactive for a time before being reclassified as a homicide. 

“[This is] a smaller jurisdiction, known to be more hardline on crime — and not immune to public pressure. The families were very adamant that someone be charged,” Picerno said. 

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A pretrial hearing is scheduled for late July; Picerno confirmed that his client remains free on bond. 

In the meantime, Willis is also the subject of four wrongful death lawsuits, including one filed by the mother of a victim’s child. Those cases have now been consolidated into a single proceeding, Picerno said.

“This is a deeply stressful time for him, but he is remaining hopeful that the truth will come out,” a family member of Willis, who asked to remain anonymous, told PEOPLE. “He is doing the best he can under the circumstances.” 

“This has been so insane and shocking since it happened,” the family member continued. “These charges aren’t something anybody saw coming. And for him to get the same charges as a drug dealer is preposterous.”