photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Jaystyn James Curtiss appears Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Douglas County District Court.

A 20-year-old Lawrence man pleaded not guilty on Thursday in a case in which he is accused of shooting two people earlier this year and endangering others.

The man, Jaystyn James Curtiss, is now scheduled to be tried on Nov. 30.

In an amended complaint filed June 29, the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office charged him with two counts of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated battery, one count of criminal discharge of a firearm and one count of endangering a child, all felonies.

Curtiss is currently in jail on a bond of $200,000 after he was arrested May 15 in the shootings of Daja Lana Buchanan and Michael D. Phillips III. The two were wounded around 9:30 p.m. May 14 near the intersection of 16th Street and Haskell Avenue. Police said at the time that they were taken to a trauma center and were expected to fully recover.

Curtiss is also accused of firing a gun on the same day into an apartment in the 1600 block of Haskell Avenue and endangering as many as five children.

Curtiss was arrested following a broad search involving drones, police dogs and multiple law enforcement agencies. Prior to the current charges, he had multiple run-ins with the law going back at least six years, including juvenile charges of criminal threat, battery on a law enforcement officer, theft and other offenses.