Plans to file charges over the mysterious deaths of three Chiefs fans in their friend’s frozen yard have fallen apart.
Attorney John Picerno, whose client Jordan Willis owned the home where Ricky Johnson, 38, David Harrington, 37, and Clayton McGeeney, 36, froze on January 9 said cops are now stonewalling him.
‘I was told charges would be forthcoming in the next two to three weeks or so,’Picerno told The Kansas City Star on Monday of his last comments on the case in September. ‘That didn’t happen.
‘And then when I finally called back again to double check on that, they refused to make any comments at all.’
Picerno told the Star that cops are also refusing to release a toxicology report because the probe is ongoing – even though he suspects it has stalled.
The lawyer believes the trio were killed by fentanyl contained within recreational drugs they willingly took and had hoped for a dealer to be charged to help clear his client’s name.
The friends were found days after they were last seen in the frozen backyard of their HIV scientist friend Jordan Willis in Kansas City, Missouri, on January 9.
While toxicology reports showed they had cocaine, THC and fentanyl in their systems, officials have not revealed a cause of death for the men.
The men’s relatives have continued seeking answers about the circumstances of their deaths, as police are yet full toxicology reports, citing an ongoing probe which has seemingly not yielded any results nearly a year later.
The bodies of David Harrington, 36 (second from left), Ricky Johnson, 38 (far right), and Clayton McGeeney, 37 (second from right) were found in the backyard of their friend Jordan Willis’s home in Kansas City on January 9
Willis’ attorney John Picerno said in September that he expected charges to be filed, though not against his client – but no one has been charged
Loved ones of the dead men have raised questions over the lack of reporting of their bodies, and the snow that they say was not deep enough to submerge them
‘What we have seen lately, especially with the explosion of fentanyl… we see a lot more people who you wouldn’t necessarily label as drug dealers being charged in these circumstances for some kind of felony murder,’ Picerno said.
‘When [someone] gives drugs to somebody, they take the drugs, and then they die.’
The three friends were found after McGeeney’s fiancée broke into Willis’ basement when the scientist did not answer the front door.
She called police when she noticed a body on Willis’ back porch. Officers then found the other two corpses.
Police have stressed the case remains a death investigation and not a homicide probe.
For two days, the families of the victims say they visited Willis’ home, called him and sent him Facebook messages asking where they were. He did not respond.
Willis has claimed he went to bed not knowing his friends were still in his backyard.
He also said he did not see messages from his missing friends’ loved ones until police showed up at his house because he was sleeping with headphones on.
Willis’ attorney said his client has moved from the area and deactivated his social media accounts due to the ‘cloud of suspicion’ the deaths have put him under.
He also reportedly went to rehab after his friends’ mysterious deaths.
Family members and loved ones of the dead have questioned Willis’ story.
‘None of the stories are adding up about what he’s saying; how do you not know there are three dead bodies on the back porch?’ asked Adriana Juarez, the mother of Johnson’s child.
John Picerno, the attorney for Jordan Willis, said he believes the friends died from overdoses from recreational drug use
David Harrington, 36, (left), Clayton McGeeney, 37, (middle) and Ricky Johnson, 38, (right) were found dead in Willis’s backyard on January 9
Johnson’s niece, Stephanie Walling, has said the national attention has been tough but they hope it will lead to a break in the case.
‘I never thought it would get as much attention as it has but I’m hoping with the attention that it will get us closer to getting answers,’ she said.
