A Dearborn, Missouri, father has filed a lawsuit against two men recently charged in the drug-related death of his son and two other Chiefs fans in Kansas City’s Northland last year.
Jordan R. Willis, 39, and Ivory J. Carson, 42, were charged Wednesday in Platte County court with delivering a controlled substance and three counts of involuntary manslaughter each. Ricky Johnson, 38, David Harrington, 37, and Clayton McGeeney, 36, died of fentanyl and cocaine toxicity, prosecutors said, while watching the Chiefs play the Los Angeles Chargers at Willis’ home on Jan. 7, 2024.
On Friday, David’s father, 59-year-old Jon Harrington, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Willis and Carson. The lawsuit argues that having cocaine and fentanyl on the premises of Willis’ home constituted a danger to David Harrington and his friends, for which Willis and Carson should be held liable.
“Defendant Willis and Defendant Ivory knew, or through the use of a reasonable degree of care, should have known of the presence of the fentanyl and the dangers and hazards that it posed including the possibility of being lethal to anyone that might ingest it,” the lawsuit reads.
No one heard from McGeeney, Johnson and David Harrington again after they arrived at Willis’ home for kickoff, in the 5200 block of Northwest 83rd Terrace, loved ones previously told The Star. McGeeney’s fiancee broke into the home on Jan. 9, 2024 searching for her fiancee and discovered the bodies of one of the men on the back porch. Police found two other men in the backyard.
Loved ones previously told The Star that McGeeney, Johnson and David Harrington had been good friends since childhood and had graduated from Park Hill High School together.
The lawsuit also argues that Willis and Ivory were negligent in distributing controlled substances. At the time of filing, Willis and Ivory had been charged with, but not convicted of, providing cocaine-laced fentanyl directly to David Harrington and his friends.
Investigators believe that Carson had dealt cocaine directly to David Harrington in the past, and that Willis had provided David Harrington, Johnson and McGeeney with cocaine on other occasions, according to charging documents in the criminal case against Willis and Ivory.
Willis maintains that he is not responsible for his friends’ deaths and did not supply them with drugs, his lawyer John Picerno told The Star. Picerno also said that Willis had previously been told by the Platte County Prosecutor’s Office that he would not be charged.
“Jordan maintains that he is not responsible for purchasing or supplying the drugs that led to the deaths of his three friends,” Picerno told The Star Wednesday. “We are very much looking forward to the day a jury gets to hear all of the evidence in this case.”
Picerno was not immediately available Sunday to comment on the lawsuit. Attorneys for Jon Harrington and Carson, who has been appointed a public defender, were also not immediately available for comment Sunday.
Jon Harrington’s lawsuit will first be heard in Platte County court on June 13 at 9:00 a.m., according to court records. Jon Harrington is seeking upwards of $25,000 in damages, according to the lawsuit.
Previous reporting by Kendrick Calfee and Nathan Pilling contributed to this article.