photo by: Douglas County Sheriff's Office

Steven A. Drake

A Lawrence murder trial that was to begin Monday morning has been delayed at least a day and possibly months longer.

Everything had been in place to go forward, attorneys and Judge Kay Huff confirmed last week during a status conference for the trial of Steven A. Drake III, 22, of Lawrence. However, on Monday morning Huff was sick and unable to proceed as hoped, according to court officials.

Drake, his appointed attorney, Angela Keck, and prosecutors are scheduled to return to court Tuesday morning, where the judge will determine the next steps.

The Douglas County District Attorney’s Office said it expected Drake’s lawyer would ask for a new trial date instead of trying to proceed this week, according to an email from Cheryl Wright Kunard, assistant to the DA. If the trial is continued, she said, the new date would be April 29.

Drake is charged with first-degree premeditated murder in the Sept. 19, 2017, homicide of Bryce S. Holladay, 26, of Lawrence.

Drake claims he was defending himself and others when he shot Holladay in the face in the doorway of Drake’s home in the 2000 block of West 27th Terrace. According to Drake and three other people at the house with him, Holladay was taking items from the home and refused to leave, even after the four of them tried to physically force him out the door.

Drake’s trial — and ensuing jury deliberations — already had little leeway to run longer than the week it was scheduled for.

The courthouse will be closed Monday for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. On the next day, Jan. 22, Huff is the judge assigned to select a grand jury to investigate alleged election-related crimes by former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s office.

On Friday, even before Drake’s trial was delayed, Huff noted that grand jury proceedings were immovable.

She said she had already arranged — if needed — to open the courthouse on Saturday and on Martin Luther King Jr. Day to accommodate testimony and jury deliberations in Drake’s case.

photo by: Contributed photo

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