photo by: Sara Shepherd

Steven A. Drake III appears in Douglas County District Court during a hearing on Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2019.

A new trial date has been set for a Lawrence man who shot and killed another man on his doorstep.

On Tuesday, Douglas County District Court Judge Kay Huff scheduled the murder trial against Steven A. Drake III, 22, to begin Aug. 19. It’s expected to last a week and a half.

The trial has been delayed a number of times over the past year, most recently at Drake’s request after “new developments,” which weren’t explained specifically in open court or filed documents, arose.

Drake’s new trial date is nearly two years since the fatal shooting, which happened on Sept. 19, 2017, in the doorway of Drake’s home in the 2000 block of West 27th Terrace.

Bryce S. Holladay, 26, of Lawrence, was killed in the shooting.

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.

Witnesses testified at a preliminary hearing that Holladay was trying to punch them and force his way inside the house when Drake retrieved a handgun from a bedroom and shot him in the face at close range.

Drake’s appointed attorney, Angela Keck, has said that she plans to argue he’s not guilty of first-degree premeditated murder as charged because he acted in defense of himself or others. Drake previously tried to get the charges dismissed altogether, arguing that he acted lawfully under Kansas’ stand-your-ground law, but the judge denied that request.

Drake has rejected a plea offer that would have settled the murder case and two other pending criminal cases against him in exchange for prosecutors recommending a sentence of 15 and a half years in prison. If a jury convicts him of first-degree premeditated murder, Drake could face life in prison with no possibility of parole for 50 years.

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.