Ex-NBA star’s arrest warrant reveals grisly details of murder plot with ex-girlfriend

Chance Comanche allegedly confessed to the crime to officials in an interview

Sacramento Kings center Chance Comanche poses during the NBA basketball team's media day in Sacramento, Calif., Monday, Oct. 2, 2023 (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved)

Former NBA player Chance Comanche admitted to investigators that he killed a sex worker in Nevada, according to prosecutors.

Court documents released this week show that Mr Comanche, 27, a member of the Sacramento Kings’ minor-league affiliate team, confessed to strangling 23-year-old Marayna Rodgers while in the city for a game.

He allegedly committed the crime with his ex-girlfriend Sakari Harnden, 19, who also worked as a sex worker.

Ms Harnden said she and Ms Rodgers had problems regarding a Rolex watch. Court documents state that some of Ms Harnden’s friends told her Ms Rodgers said she was going to “smoke her” if she did not give her the watch.

Ms Harnden also complained about her friend making the same purchases as her. Even though Mr Comanche and Ms Harnden broke up a few months after they began dating a year and a half ago, they stayed in contact and allegedly plotted Ms Rodgers’s murder together.

Mr Comanche tried to find someone willing to commit the murder for them, even offering $3,000 as an incentive, police say. But when he couldn’t find anyone willing to kill the woman, they decided to do it themselves.

On 6 December, Mr Comanche posed as a customer and offered Ms Rodgers $1,000 for sexual services. She agreed and the three agreed to meet on that day. Based on Mr Comanche’s account, Ms Harnden parked the vehicle she was using in a cul-de-sac.

Ms Harnden then allegedly zip-tied Ms Roders’ hands together as part of a “kinky” act she was told Mr Comanche requested.

Following this, the former basketball player told officials he strangled Ms Rodgers’ neck for approximately 10 seconds with an HDMI cord but stopped when she started struggling to breathe. At the same time, Ms Harnden allegedly choked Ms Rodgers with her hands.

Once it appeared that Ms Rodgers was unresponsive, he said the two checked her for a pulse. The two believed the woman was dead after they noticed fluid coming out of her mouth.

Later, the two drove around and tried to find a place to hide the woman’s body, eventually deciding on a ditch on the side of an unidentified road, according to court records. The two concealed Ms Rodgers’ remains with rocks.

Mr Comanche was taken into custody in Sacramento last week. He’s facing murder and conspiracy to commit murder charges.

Ms Harnden was arrested on December 13. She’s facing charges of kidnapping in the first degree, murder and theft, according to Clark County records. Her bond is set at $500,000.

The basketball player was cut by his team after news of his arrest broke.