Chicago man accused in Miller County murder

A Chicago man has been charged with murder in Miller County after investigators say his business partner died during a drug-selling trip.

Joseph McKenna, 26, was arrested in Chicago without incident and was awaiting extradition to Missouri on Monday. He was jailed on a $750,000 bond on a second-degree murder charge. It was not immediately clear Wednesday whether he had been brought to Miller County.

The charge comes after human remains later identified as California man Tyler Worthington were found in a wooded area near Tuscumbia in June. In a probable cause statement, investigators said Worthington disappeared while he and McKenna were in Missouri to sell marijuana or oil from the plant. Worthington had been shot and dragged into the woods, according to the statement.

Worthington met McKenna in Chicago and drove to Missouri but never returned to Chicago or to his home in California, the statement says. The rental car Worthington drove from Chicago to Missouri remains missing, according to the statement.

Investigators said that during a search of Worthington’s home they found more than 500 pounds of marijuana, green houses with hundreds of plants and invoices showing vapor pen cartridges used for marijuana oil that were shipped to McKenna in Chicago.

The statement says investigators believe Worthington was murdered during a trip to Missouri to sell drugs, but does not say who police believe killed him. In Missouri a defendant can be charged with second-degree murder if an accomplice dies during the commission of a felony, such as drug distribution.