Daoud Holmes is pictured during a hearing on March 4, 2022, in Douglas County District Court. Holmes was charged with the rape and sodomy of a 19-year-old woman, but the charges were dismissed by the state without prejudice in April of 2023.

Rape charges against a Missouri man have been dismissed in Douglas County District Court due to insufficient evidence, although the charges could be refiled at a later date.

The man, Daoud Lateel Holmes, 23, of Kansas City, Missouri, was charged with two felony counts of rape and one felony count of aggravated sodomy, according to charging documents. Holmes was originally charged with one count of rape, but the additional charges were added after a preliminary hearing in September 2021, according to court records.

The charges relate to an incident on Jan. 15, 2020, when Holmes and co-defendant Ryan Mandela Reeves, 24, of Dallas, were alleged to have raped a 19-year-old woman in Lawrence.

Reeves was facing a single count of rape, but that charge was dismissed without prejudice by the state in March 2022, after the state subpoenaed Holmes to testify against Reeves. Holmes refused to testify, and the state dismissed the charge against Reeves with the intent to refile it after Holmes’ trial, as the Journal-World reported.

Ryan M. Reeves during a hearing on March 4, 2022, in Douglas County District Court. Reeves was charged with one count of rape of a 19-year-old woman but the charge were dismissed by the state without prejudice.

Reeves attempted to have the dismissed charge and his arrest record expunged in August 2022, but the court denied his request after District Attorney Suzanne Valdez argued that Reeves’ charge was dismissed only out of necessity pending the disposition of the co-defendant’s case, according to court records.

The state moved to dismiss charges against Holmes on April 5. The reason for dismissal in the motion is “insufficient evidence.” The motion, which provided no further details, was filed less than two weeks before a trial for Holmes was scheduled to start.

Both Holmes’ and Reeves’ charges were dismissed without prejudice, meaning that the state can refile the charges later.

Holmes was free on bond after posting a $50,000 surety bond shortly after his arrest in July 2021.