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Forensic pathologist explains how Kansas City Chiefs fans may have died: ‘It’s painless death’
Fentanyl and cocaine were discovered in the toxicology report of the three Kansas City Chiefs fans
Dr. Michael Baden, a forensic pathologist, has opened up on what he believes may have been the cause of death of three Kansas City Chiefs fans’ death after fentanyl and cocaine were discovered in the toxicology report. Ricky Johnson, 38, Clayton McGeeney, 36, and David Harrington, 37, were found frozen to death outside their friend Jordan Willis’ home.
"We have to wait for the official report to come out, but it appears, at this time, that there was fentanyl and other drugs present. Fentanyl is used by doctors because it's a powerful painkiller, and one of the side effects is making a person sleepy, and what happened here, I think, could have been that before they used drugs together," Baden said on FOX & Friends.
"The one fellow who comes in and sleeps on the couch indoors sleeps it off," Baden added, referring to Willis. Willis recently checked into rehab, and a family told Fox News Digital that the 38-year-old is “facing his addiction head-on.”
"The other three get sleepy and pass out outside, and because of the weather and because of the snow, the body temperature drops very quickly from 98 degrees to 80 degrees, at which point, less than an hour, the heart can't beat anymore accurately, so they die of a cardiac arrest due to hypothermia," Baden said.
"It is very unusual for three people using — or four people — using drugs together to die simultaneously from fentanyl," he added. "The effects on people, it varies a great deal. So, it's less likely to be overdoses, more likely to be hypothermia caused by passing out from the fentanyl."
According to Willis’ attorney John Picerno, his client had no idea the men were outside as he had slept for almost 48 hours after watching a game. He allegedly only learned about their deaths after police arrived for a welfare check.
"It would be extremely unusual for a true overdose to kill them, but they would all get sleepy and if they pass out in the snow, they die. One of the factors is, it’s painless death," he said. "They don't have any pain when they pass out, or they don't have any pain from the cold."
Fox $ Friends co-host Lawrence pointed out how the fentanyl crisis has been affecting the US in recent times. Baden noted that most of these fentanyl deaths “combined other drugs,” before co-host Brian Kilmeade asked if people consume the drug unknowingly.
"That's part of the problem. Fentanyl is very cheap. It's very cheap for the drug lords… they can mix fentanyl with marijuana. They mix fentanyl with cocaine, and that's why it's much more powerful than the other drugs," Baden said. "So, the four of them may have not even known what they were getting. They might have thought they were getting cocaine, instead it's fentanyl, and that's why, as Lawrence said, we have to wait for the official toxicology report."
Willis came under the suspicion of the deceased men’s friends and families after the tragic incident. Multiple questions have been raised, and he has been accused of not responding to people he knew were looking for his friends. Ainsley Earhardt noted that Willis may have admitted drugs were involved, since police said the deaths are not being treated like a homicide.
Baden said, “The police come there, and they got things from the scene. So, they may have the package or whatever the drugs were contained in, and they would have known, and that's why they said right away that it's not a murder. They right away said, gave the impression it was a drug overdose, and the amount of the drug are going to be very important into being so certain about how the effects were. The initial report says trace of cocaine and fentanyl. Fentanyl is much more likely to cause death than cocaine.”
