Judge rejects self-defense argument in Lawrence doorway shooting death, orders man to stand trial for first-degree murder

Lawrence police officers are pictured outside 2013 W. 27th Terrace, the scene of a fatal shooting shortly before 10 p.m. Sept. 19, 2017.

Within the half hour leading up to Bryce Holladay’s death, evidence presented to a court showed that Steven A. Drake III messaged two people saying he was about to get a gun and shoot Holladay.

Those messages raise questions of premeditation that a jury should decide, Douglas County District Court Judge Kay Huff said Wednesday, in explaining her decision to bind Drake over for trial on a count of first-degree murder.

“These texts preceded any physical altercation at the door,” Huff said.

Drake, 21, of Lawrence, had argued that the murder charge should be dismissed because he acted lawfully when he shot Holladay in the face at close range, killing him. Drake, through his attorney, said the use of deadly force was necessary to protect himself or others from Holladay, who was refusing to leave his home and fighting multiple people trying to push him out the door.

After hearing arguments in February, the judge took the matter under advisement and announced her decision this week. She ruled that the state had, in fact, presented probable cause to try Drake on the murder charge.

Steven A. Drake

Following the judge’s ruling, Drake pleaded not guilty.

A date for his murder trial will be set at his next court appearance, scheduled for April 10.

Huff said there were other inconsistencies that should be weighed by a jury, as well.

In addition to the pre-shooting messages, Huff said that Drake and others had described Holladay as “wacked,” aggressive and high on meth during the incident. However toxicology tests in the autopsy report did not detect drugs in his system, and other testimony indicated he was nonconfrontational — even nodding off at times — during most of the incident, Huff said.

“There are disputed facts found in the testimony that need to be resolved by a jury,” Huff said.

The shooting happened about 9:45 p.m. Sept. 19, 2017, at Drake’s home, a duplex in the 2000 block of West 27th Terrace.

Holladay, 26, a Lawrence resident whom Drake and others living in the home knew, had come in and was rummaging through items in the house and saying things that didn’t make sense, according to witness testimony and video of Drake’s police interview showed at the preliminary hearing.

Holladay refused to leave after being asked repeatedly, and things escalated.

Bryce Holladay

According to previous testimony in the case:

Drake, a male friend, Drake’s girlfriend and a woman considered to be Drake’s stepmom tried to physically force Holladay out the front door.

During the tussle, Holladay punched one of the women in the face and continued throwing punches. The stepmom threatened him with a baseball bat, and she and the girlfriend both tried to spray him with pepper spray, though they weren’t sure if much hit him because instead of stopping or grabbing his eyes he just got angrier and kept trying to push back in through the door.

The stepmom started to call 911 and Holladay was still half in and half out of the front door, pushing, when Drake retrieved a handgun from a roommate’s bedroom, returned, and shot Holladay in the face a single time.

Holladay’s body crumpled just outside the front door.

Afterward, Drake talked to a 911 dispatcher, set the gun on a table and waited for police at the scene. After being interviewed at the police station, he was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter but formally charged with first-degree murder instead.