Woman accused of killing with pro basketball player appears in court

A 19-year-old woman accused of helping to kill a woman and dump her body in a ditch in Henderson appeared in court on Wednesday.

Sakari Harnden was arrested Dec. 15 in Las Vegas in connection with the killing of 23-year-old Marayna Rodgers, police have said. Harnden and 27-year-old Chance Comanche, a former professional basketball player who was arrested in California, are both facing charges of murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

According to an arrest report, Comanche admitted that he and Harnden planned to kill Rodgers, and that they both strangled her before hiding her body in a ditch on Vincenzo Lane in Henderson. Harnden was upset with Rodgers, police said, because Rodgers told other people that Harnden implicated Harnden’s boyfriend in a double murder in California.

Harnden appeared for a brief court hearing on Wednesday, when she confirmed that she understood the charges she faces. She waived her right to a speedy preliminary hearing, instead asking for one to be held in 45 days.

Anna Clark, Harnden’s public defender, declined to comment further on the case following Wednesday’s hearing.

Rodgers’ friends reported her missing on Dec. 7. Harnden had filed a missing persons report for Rodgers a day earlier, and messages obtained by police showed that Comanche told Harnden what to say about Rodgers’ disappearance, according to the report.

Rodgers lived in Washington state, according to a GoFundMe page. Her boyfriend, identified in police reports only as Tremaine, told investigators that he and Rodgers drove to Las Vegas from Washington state on Dec. 1 “with the intent of engaging in prostitution,” the arrest report said.

Comanche, who played one game with the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers in April, had played a 7 p.m. NBA G League game in Henderson on Dec. 5. He scored 16 points in the Stockton Kings’ 103-91 loss to the Henderson-based Ignite at Dollar Loan Center.

According to the report, Comanche told police that he and Harnden lured Rodgers away from her friends by claiming that he wanted to hire the two women as sex workers. He said that he got Rodgers into a vehicle, tied her up, and then strangled her with an HDMI cord while Harnden choked her.

Comanche told police the two left Rodger’s body in a ditch covered with rocks, and police found her body at the location Comanche described, according to the report.

His extradition to Nevada is pending, and as of Wednesday morning, Comanche has not been booked into the Clark County Detention Center.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.