Stockton Kings player admits to strangling young woman in Nevada, court records show
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 02: Chance Comanche #22 of the Sacramento Kings poses for a photo at Sacramento Kings Practice Facility on October 02, 2023 in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by down
Pro basketball player Chance Comanche has admitted to strangling a young woman before burying her body in a ditch outside of Las Vegas, according to court records obtained by KTVU.
Comanche, until recently, was a center for the Stockton Kings of the NBA's G League. Police say that he and a woman with whom he's had a relationship allegedly killed a sex worker shortly after he played in a G League game on Dec. 6.
He was detained by law enforcement during a practice session on Dec. 14. Police had an arrest warrant for the alleged kidnapping of Marayna Rodgers. Once he was taken to the Sacramento County Main Jail, he was interviewed by Las Vegas police.
Comanche told police that he and 19-year-old Sakari Harnden concocted a plan to lure Rodgers away from her friends in order to kill her, court records say. They tried to hire different people to commit the murder for them, but they were unable to get someone to help, Comanche allegedly told investigators.
The pair decided to commit the murder themselves, and Comanche told police that he was under the "direction of Sakari" when they began to set the plan in motion. Comanche said he and Harnden told Rodgers that he wanted to hire them for sex, and that he wanted to tie her up first.
Court records state that Harnden climbed onto Rodgers' lap in a car and zip tied her wrists while Comanche was in the backseat. Comanche said he then strangled Rodgers with an HDMI cord while Harnden choked her using her bare hands. Comanche said he stopped holding the cord on Rodger's neck at one point, but Harnden continued to choke her. The pair only stopped when they believed Rodgers had died.
They then drove around with Rodgers' lifeless body in the front seat of the car, searching for a place to hide it. The pair took her body from the car, placed it in a ditch and covered it with rocks, Comanche told investigators.
Comanche pointed out the location of Rodgers' body on a map. Las Vergas Metropolitan Police found her remains there, they said. Detectives concluded that Comanche should be charged with murder. Harnden was arrested in Las Vegas, and is now being held without bail, according to The Associated Press.
Timeline of the investigation:
Dec. 7 - Two people reported that their friend Rodgers was missing. They told police that she was a sex worker, and she was last seen the day before. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Vice section took over the initial investigation because she was a sex worker.
One friend, identified by cops as Summer, told LVMPD that she last saw Rodgers on Dec. 6 around 8 p.m. Summer said that Rodgers left to meet another sex worker named Sakari Harnden. Summer told police that Rodgers and Harnden were planning to meet two unknown men for a "prostitution date."
Detectives on the case also learned that Harnden had filed a missing persons report with the LVMPD saying that Rodgers was last seen around 3 a.m. on Dec 6. Harnden told police that Rodgers has bipolar disorder but wasn't a danger to herself.
Detectives found Rodgers' car, a white Mercedes, on Dec. 7, and inside they found her boyfriend, Tremaine McAdams. Police interviewed him that evening. He said that Rodgers was planning to meet up with Sakari to have sex for money with players from the National Basketball Association, and she was hoping to earn about $4,000 in one night. However, McAdams said she never returned from the meeting. McAdams also said that Sakari and Rodgers had been fighting over Sakari allegedly implicating her boyfriend in a double murder.
Dec. 8 - Law enforcement located Harnden, and she was interviewed by police and the FBI around 1 a.m. Harnden said that she and Rodgers were in a car with a client, named Chance Comanche on the night of Rodgers' disappearance. She told investigators that Comanche was in love with her and would do "anything for her."
Harnden also told police that Rodgers had left in a black sedan to go meet another client, while she stayed behind with Comanche for the rest of the night. She also said that she attempted to contact Rodgers several times, but her messages never went through.
Dec. 9 - Police requested text data from an app on Harnden's phone. The chats revealed some of the alleged communication between Harnden and Comanche leading up to Rodgers' disappearance. A third party, a friend of Comanche's known only as "Tre" was also in the group message.
Dec. 14 - Comanche taken into custody and interviewed by police. A warrant was issued for his arrest for open murder.
Dec. 20 - Harnden arrested in Las Vegas.