(NewsNation) — The owner of the property where three Kansas City Chiefs fans were found dead in January won’t face criminal charges, his attorney told Fox News Digital, but prosecutors haven’t confirmed that claim.
The Platte County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office in Missouri also hasn’t confirmed the lawyer’s claims that criminal charges against others tied to the investigation may be forthcoming.
NewsNation reached out to the man’s lawyer and the prosecutor’s office for comment Thursday. Neither had responded by the time of publication.
The prosecutor’s office told Fox News Digital “there is noting to report or comment on at this time.”
“It’s still an ongoing investigation,” a representative told the outlet. “I assume when something is done, [Platte County Prosecutor] Eric [Zahnd] will be doing a press release. We don’t have a timeline to report, unfortunately.”
Police have previously said there were no signs of foul play and that they were not investigating the case as a homicide.
Investigation into the Chiefs fans’ deaths
The investigation began early this year at the home of Kansas City resident Jordan Willis.
The man’s friends David Harrington, 37; Ricky Johnson, 38; and Clayton McGeeney, 36, went to his house on Jan. 7 to watch the Kansas City Chiefs game.
Kickoff was at 3:25 p.m. CT and ended almost exactly three hours later, according to a post on the team’s social media pages. For the next fifty hours or so, loved ones heard nothing from the three men.
McGeeny’s fiancée entered through the basement after banging on the door to no avail. She found one man dead on the back porch and called the police, who found the other two men dead in the backyard.
Police issued a statement the next morning saying they found no obvious signs of foul play.
Willis’ attorney, John Picerno, told NewsNation in January that Willis had “no idea” his friends’ bodies were in his backyard and said he wouldn’t have done anything to harm them.
What Willis’ attorney is saying now
Picerno told Fox News Digital that “’Charges [will be] forthcoming in the next few weeks,’ based on ‘internal conversations’ with prosecutors,” the outlet reported Wednesday.
“The criminal liability could be for a felony murder charge if somebody provided those young men with drugs,” Picerno told reporters.
That “somebody” wouldn’t be Willis, he said.
“I can say with confidence that my client will not be charged in that regard,” Picerno told Fox News Digital. “My client will not be charged in any manner with having to do with the untimely death of his friends.”
He may, however, face civil disputes tied to their deaths, Picerno told reporters.
What could happen
Prosecutors sometimes file criminal charges against people who they believe provided the drugs that later caused an overdose death. The kinds of charges a person might face in that scenario vary by state and possible so-called “Good Samaritan” exceptions.
Some counties throughout the U.S. have increasingly used such cases as a response to the national opioid problem, particularly as fentanyl-related deaths have grown more pervasive.
As of Thursday, however, prosecutors hadn’t announced any charges related to the January investigation.
Jennifer Marquez, David Harrington’s mother, told Fox News Digital she hadn’t received any recent updates about the case.
The Chiefs fans’ death investigation
Willis reportedly told police his friends froze to death as temperatures dipped below freezing in the area.
Preliminary autopsy and toxicology results later showed all three men had cocaine and fentanyl in their systems.
Willis faces no charges in connection with their deaths. Some of the men’s families, however, have said they would like to see Willis “held responsible.”
“It was his home. He had the party,” Marquez told Fox News Digital.
“He doesn’t use that particular door. He goes out in the front,” Picerno told NewsNation host Dan Abrams. “He had absolutely no knowledge they were out there. They were his friends. They were at his house socializing. If he had found them there, or if they were in danger, he would have called the police and tried to help them.”
