Haunting video footage shows the final moments before a Las Vegas medical assistant was allegedly kidnapped and killed by a former NBA star and his girlfriend.
Chance Comanche, 27, a former NBA G-League star who played for the Stockton Kings before his Dec. 15 arrest, faces murder and kidnapping charges in the Dec. 6 death of 23-year-old Marayna Rodgers.
He was indicted by a grand jury on March 11 along with his co-defendant Sakari Harnden, 19.
Newly released surveillance video shows Rodgers walking with Harnden at a liquor store in Las Vegas. She appears to be smiling in the video, which became one of the last times she was seen alive.
Gruesome pictures from the grand jury reveal the rocky makeshift grave where Rodgers’ body was found bloodied and stripped and left in a stone-covered grave.
Haunting video footage shows the final moments before a medical assistant was allegedly kidnapped and killed by a former Las Vegas NBA star and his girlfriend. Grand jury photos reveal the rock-filled makeshift grave where Marayna Rodgers’ body was found
Chance Comanche, 27, a former NBA G-League player who played for the Stockton Kings before his Dec. 15 arrest, faces murder and kidnapping charges in the Dec. 6 death of 23-year-old Marayna Rodgers. Comanche was charged together with his girlfriend, co-defendant Sakari Harnden, 19
Footage from a local grocery store shows Comanche and Harnden casually shopping together just hours after allegedly committing the murder.
Las Vegas police said Rodgers, a physician’s assistant, was strangled to death early Dec. 6.
Comanche, a 6-foot-10 power forward and center, was waived after his arrest by Stockton, the NBA G League affiliate of the Sacramento Kings. The team had played the G League Henderson Ignite on December 5th.
In the footage captured by Sacramento’s KCRA last monthComanche is seen in a cramped cell as he waives his extradition to Nevada.
Comanche planned the killing during a G League game, posed as a sex-work client to lure Rodgers to her death, buried her body in the Nevada desert and eventually made a full confession to police, according to the warrant obtained by the DailyMail . com.
In a text message exchange obtained by police, Comanche shared a coffin emoji with Harnden.
‘I can break her neck or just strangle it (expletive),’ Comanche allegedly wrote in a group chat obtained by police.
Haunting video footage shows the final moments before a medical assistant was kidnapped and killed
Rodgers is seen walking with Harnden near a liquor store in Las Vegas together. She appears to be smiling in the video
Just hours after Rodgers’ death, a local grocer recorded Comanche and Harnden shopping together
Her body was found bloodied and stripped in an undeveloped lot near a suburban community
Rogers, 23, of Washington disappeared Dec. 6 while visiting Las Vegas
Comanche allegedly told investigators he followed Harnden’s instructions when he lured Rodgers to her death and later killed her by strangulation
Comanche allegedly told investigators he was following Harnden’s instructions when he lured Rodgers to her death and later killed her by strangulation.
He and Harnden met on a dating app more than a year ago, and although their relationship lasted only a few months, they have kept in touch, according to police.
Authorities say Harnden and Rodgers were friends in Washington state, where the latter worked as a physician’s assistant. However, Harnden recently became upset with Rodgers for telling others that, according to the police, the 19-year-old had implicated Harnden’s own former girlfriend in a double murder in California.
Rodgers and her boyfriend, identified as Tremaine, traveled to Las Vegas from Washington on Dec. 1 with the intent to ‘participate in prostitution,’ according to the police report.
After hearing about their trip, Harnden allegedly planned with Comanche to lure Rodgers away from Tremaine and her other friends in Las Vegas so they could kill her.
Rodgers was a physician’s assistant visiting the Las Vegas area from Washington state
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police warrant describes Rodgers’ murder in chilling detail
Comanche will be seen dunking for the Stockton Kings in the NBA G League on December 9
Posing as a prostitution client or ‘trick’, Comanche called Rodgers to a meeting place where he strangled her with an HDMI cord with a little help from Harnden, police allege. The couple allegedly dumped Rodgers’ body in Henderson.
“While Chance used the cord to strangle Marayna, Sakari applied both of her hands to Marayna’s throat and choked her,” read the warrant, obtained by DailyMail.com. ‘Chance said that when he stopped strangling Marayna, he released the tension on the rope, but Sakari continued to strangle her.
“When Marayna became unresponsive, both Sakari and Chance began checking her neck for a pulse and touching her to see if she was still breathing. Chance referred to fluid coming out of Marayna’s mouth, which led them to believe , that Marayna was dead.’
The pair then drove around looking for a place to dump the body before eventually finding a ditch and covering Rodgers’ body with rocks, according to police.
“Both Sakari and Chance removed Marayna from the car and placed her in the ditch and began covering her body with rocks,” the warrant said. ‘Chance admitted to using a towel to move the rocks so their DNA could not be traced.
“Chance was asked what happened to Marayna’s belongings and he said Marayna’s cell phone was smashed by a rock and placed inside Sakari’s car along with Marayna’s other belongings.”