photo by: Mugshot courtesy of the Kansas Department of Corrections

Rashidi McClelland is pictured with the Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center.

Charges against a Lawrence man accused of injuring another man with a knife in November were dismissed on Friday, after a prosecutor said that the other man had died earlier this month.

Rashidi Edward McClelland, 47, had been charged in Douglas County District Court with one count of felony aggravated battery. The charge was in connection with an incident around 3:15 a.m. Nov. 4 at 3250 Michigan St. in which a 56-year-old man was slashed in the arm with a knife and suffered injuries that weren’t believed to be life threatening, as the Journal-World reported.

McClelland was scheduled to appear in court on Friday for a preliminary hearing, at which the state would have attempted to establish probable cause. But Senior Assistant District Attorney Eve Kemple instead filed a motion to dismiss the case, writing that the man who was injured, Michael J. Jordan Jr., had “passed away” on Feb. 6, 2025. The motion did not say how Jordan died.

The aggravated battery charge against McClelland was dismissed with prejudice, meaning that it cannot be filed again.

Charges were also dismissed in another case against McClelland on Friday. In that one, he was charged with one count each of unlawful distribution of methamphetamine, possession of ecstasy and interference with law enforcement, all felonies, according to charging documents. Those charges were in connection with an incident on June 9, 2024.

The reason for the dismissal in Kemple’s filing was “prosecutorial discretion.” These charges, unlike the aggravated battery charge, were dismissed without prejudice, meaning they could be refiled later.

McClelland was on parole at the time of his arrest in the aggravated battery case. He had a previous conviction in 2022 in Douglas County for attempted aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and had been sentenced to two years in prison in that case, according to court records.

McClelland remains in custody at the Douglas County Jail with a hold from the Kansas Department of Corrections.