photo by: Chris Conde

Steven A. Drake testifies on the second day of his trial on Feb. 16, 2022, in Douglas County District Court. Drake was charged with first-degree murder for the shooting of Bryce S. Holladay on Sept. 19, 2017.

A Douglas County jury is now deliberating the fate of a defendant accused of murdering a 26-year-old Lawrence man in the doorway of his duplex.

The case of Steven A. Drake, 25, who shot Bryce Holladay on Sept. 19, 2017, went to the jury after two and a half days of testimony, including from Drake himself. The jury deliberated for several hours Thursday afternoon and will resume Friday morning.

The prosecution has argued that Drake — charged with first-degree murder — killed Holladay with premeditation, as evidenced by social media messages and texts, while the defense has argued that Drake, attempting to eject Holladay from his home in the 2000 block of West 27th Terrace, acted in self-defense.

Bryce Holladay

Drake took the stand Wednesday and Thursday, describing for jurors his troubled childhood, which he said included abusive men and frequent involvement with child services and foster care systems. He testified that as an adult he worked a series of construction jobs and had been working from early in the morning the night of the shooting.

Before Drake took the stand, prosecutors showed the jury video of Drake being interviewed by detectives the night of the killing.

Drake admitted shooting Holladay in the face at close range with a 9 mm Glock, but told the detectives he did so only after he was unsuccessful in getting Holladay to leave his home — from which Holladay had also been stealing, he said — and after Holladay became violent with Drake’s stepmother and girlfriend.

Drake’s stepmother, who also lived at the home, told the court she used pepper spray on Holladay and threatened him with a baseball bat, but to no avail.

The prosecution, however, argued that the shooting involved more planning than heat-of-the-moment reaction.

Testimony from Detective Dean Brown, who is a technology extraction expert with the Lawrence Police Department, said Drake’s cellphone showed text messages in which he announced that he was “bout to shoot Bryce in the head.”

The prosecution argued — in closing arguments delivered by Deputy District Attorney Joshua Seiden — that 20 minutes or more elapsed between when Drake wrote that he was going to shoot Holladay and when he actually pulled the trigger.

Drake did not contact the police for assistance in ejecting Holladay.

“I didn’t want him to go to jail,” Drake testified Thursday. “I just wanted him to leave.”

But after he shot Holladay, he said he sat down on the couch, removed the hollow-point bullets from the gun and called 911.

When police arrived on the scene, Holladay was dead.

Defense attorney Michael Clarke, in closing arguments Thursday, told the jury that Drake’s texts and social media messages were not evidence of premeditation but were simply Drake’s way of venting about the stressful situation of having an intruder in his home. Additionally, Clarke argued, Drake had no legal duty to retreat from his home because he said Holladay was forcing open the doorway of the house after being pushed out by the occupants. Clarke said Holladay continued to throw punches around the door despite being warned that he would be shot.

Jury deliberations will resume on Friday morning. Drake is being held in the Douglas County Jail in lieu of $750,000 bond.

If convicted of first-degree murder, he could face a sentence of life in prison with no possibility of parole for 50 years.

photo by: Chris Conde

Defense attorney Michael Clarke argues that Drake had no duty to retreat as Holladay tried to force his way into the house during closing arguments on Feb. 17, 2022, during the first degree murder trial of Steven A. Drake III.

photo by: Chris Conde

Deputy District Attorney Joshua Seiden speaks during closing arguments on Feb. 17, 2022, at the murder trial of Steven A. Drake in Douglas County District Court.