Chance Comanche, a former player for the NBA G League‘s Stockton Kings, was recently arrested by the FBI as a person of interest involving the murder of a woman in Las Vegas. Now, it has come out that Chance Comanche allegedly confessed to the strangling death of the woman along with the help of a former girlfriend according to documents.
The Associated Press reports that Chance Comanche, 27, allegedly confessed to strangling a woman in Las Vegas after the remains of a woman were found in the nearby town of Henderson, Nev. Earlier this week, Comanche was taken into custody in Sacramento, Calif., and shared details of the alleged murder of Marayna Rodgers, 23, this coming from a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department affidavit.
“I cannot comment on the substance of any statements made to law enforcement,” Comanche attorney Michael Goldstein said Wednesday. “We made our initial appearance yesterday, and the allegations will be addressed in court.”
Comanche is currently being held without bond and appeared in court on Tuesday (December 19) and agreed with the transfer of his custody to Nevada to face murder and conspiracy to commit murder charges.
Along with Comanche, the player’s former girlfriend, Sakari Harnden, 19, is also facing charges and is being held in a Las Vegas jail without bond.
Reports say that Rodgers, who worked as a medical assistant in Washington state, was first reported missing on December 7 after visiting Las Vegas with friends. According to police, Rodgers moonlit as a sex worker and argued over a watch with Harnden, also reportedly a sex worker. Police reports say that Comanche and Harnden choked Rodgers to death on December 6 and disposed of her body in Henderson.
While it isn’t clear who was the mastermind of the scheme, the affidavit adds that Comanche was posing as a potential customer of Rodgers and would tie her hands behind her back. Then, using a cord to keep Rodgers in place, Harnden choked Rodgers with her bare hands. The pair then dumped the body in a roadside ditch.
Chance Comanche, a 6-foot-10 power forward and center, played at the University of Arizona from 2015 to 2017 before forgoing his final two years of eligibility for the NBA draft. He went undrafted and signed with the Portland Trail Blazers. The Stockton Kings, an affiliate NBA G League team of the Sacramento Kings, took on Comanche after the Kings signed and waived him in October.
—
Photo: Lachlan Cunningham / Getty