Kansas
Parents of Chiefs fans found dead in backyard break silence as 2 suspects are charged
The parents of two of three deceased Kansas City Chiefs fans, whose bodies were found frozen in a friend’s backyard, expressed mixed feelings following the arrests of two men charged with manslaughter on Wednesday.
Ricky Johnson Jr., 38, David Harrington, 37, and Clayton McGeeney, 36, were found dead in their pal Jordan Willis’ backyard on Jan. 9, 2024.
Harrington’s mom, Theresa, claimed she’s been kept out of the loop in the 14 months since the trio’s bodies were discovered.
“They wouldn’t tell me anything,” she told the Daily Mail.
She said Kansas police officials continuously stated they weren’t investigating the deaths as homicides.
“[The statements] made it easy to think they had already made up their mind and there wouldn’t be any further investigation,” Harrington added, saying she pushed away any hope for criminal charges.
On Wednesday, Platte County prosecutors charged Willis and another man, Ivory Carson, each with three counts of manslaughter and two counts of delivering a controlled substance.
Johnson’s father, Rick, has since vowed to attend each hearing involving Willis and Carson.
“I am happy with the Platte County Prosecutor’s Office and the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department for filling charges,” he told Fox 4 Kansas City. “It’s been a long time. And I’ll be at every court date.”
The trio’s bodies were found on Willis’ property by McGenney’s fiancée two days after they gathered to watch the Chiefs’ final regular season game.
They died from a deadly cocktail of fentanyl and cocaine, Platte County Prosecutor Eric Zahnd revealed during a press conference streamed on KMBC.
Willis, an HIV researcher, claims he went to bed in the early hours of Jan. 8 and didn’t know the three men were outside.
He also claimed he didn’t hear the relatives of the men knocking on his door before their bodies were discovered because he was wearing headphones.
Police recovered two bags of drugs, one containing cocaine, the other fentanyl.
DNA samples from the bag of cocaine were mostly from Willis, while Carson’s DNA was found all over the bag of fentanyl, Zahnd said Wednesday.
Police say they found texts on Willis’ phone alleging Carson supplied David Harrington with cocaine. Carson later admitted selling cocaine to the trio.
“Jordan maintains that he is not responsible for purchasing or supplying the drugs that led to the deaths of his three friends,” Willis’ attorney John Picerno told the Kansas City Star after the arrest. “We are very much looking forward to the day a jury gets to hear all of the evidence in this case.”
The arrests did little to clear any speculation surrounding the deaths.
“[I] still don’t know anything about how my son died or his last moments,” Harrington said.
The grieving mother isn’t convinced any outcome in the mystery will come soon, claiming the trial won’t start for more than a year.
Theresa Harrington had acknowledged her son’s drug use but believed he didn’t do it to harm himself.
“He didn’t take that to die,” she told NewsNations’ Chris Cuomo in February 2024. “If he took the drugs on his own, he took them to get high. It just means that there’s more to the story, there’s more to it than just that.”
Harrington assured her son wasn’t a drug addict and pointed blame at “peer pressure.”
Willis and Carson are being held at the Platte County Jail on $100,000 bonds each.
No court hearings were scheduled for the two men following their arrest Wednesday afternoon.
Kansas
LET’S TALK | KSHB coming to Northeast Kansas City, Missouri, on Jan. 20
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The KSHB 41 News team will be landing in Northeast Kansas City, Missouri, for our latest Let’s Talk event.
We’ll be hanging out from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 20, at Peachtree Cafeteria, 2128 E. 12th Street, in Kansas City, Missouri, 64127.
Join KSHB 41’s Kevin Holmes, Wes Peery, Alyssa Jackson, Ryan Gamboa and others in person to let us know what we need to learn about the Historic Northeast, its residents, what’s going well and what opportunities are possible.
If you can’t make it in person, send us a question using the form below.
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Kansas
Kansas ag officials take comment on proposed water rules
Posted:
Updated:
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — The Kansas Department of Agriculture held a meeting on Thursday to discuss proposed rules regarding the Kansas Water Appropriation Act.
The Division of Water Resources is proposing new regulations and changes to current regulations under the law.
The division is looking at amending or revoking regulations related to flowmeters tracking water usage.
It is also proposing changes to groundwater usage rules on how far you can move a well from its original location to prevent harming the water rights of other landowners.
Another regulation would create voluntary Water Conservation Areas, where landowners work with the division to establish water conservation plans on their properties.
Some of the concerns raised at Thursday’s meeting dealt with property rights and the transfer of land to new owners. Some expressed concern about the sale of water rights to other landowners in the area.
There is no listed timeline for when the changes could be made.
For more Kansas news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news by downloading our mobile app and signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track 3 Weather app by clicking here. To watch our shows live on our website, click here.
Kansas
Rural Kansas fire department reports record number of calls in 2025
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — A rural Kansas fire department says it saw yet another increase in calls in 2025.
On Tuesday, Butler County Fire District #3 posted data about last year on social media.
It responded to 782 alarms in 2025, which is a new record.
The majority of the calls were for rescue and emergency medical services, followed by service calls.
The department’s data show the number of calls has been trending upward over the last 20 years.
From 2006 to 2010, the department handled an an average of 550 calls a year. From 2021 through 2025, that average was 720, a 31% increase.
Officials said continued growth in the community has increased the demand for emergency services.
“These numbers reinforce the importance of ongoing training, staffing, equipment planning, and community support to ensure we can continue to provide timely and effective service,” the department said on Facebook.
For more Kansas news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news by downloading our mobile app and signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track 3 Weather app by clicking here. To watch our shows live on our website, click here.
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