LAWRENCE — A Lawrence man who claims he acted in self-defense when he fatally shot an acquaintance has rejected a plea deal that also would have resolved two other cases.
The Lawrence Journal-World reports that 22-year-old Steven Drake III said Thursday that he was “absolutely” opposed to the deal.
Prosecutors say they would have recommended a 15 .5 year sentence in exchange for him pleading guilty to three charges second-degree murder in the September 2017 shooting of 26-year-old Bryce Holladay, vehicular homicide in the November 2016 crash that killed 24-year-old Taylor Lister and aggravated battery in the July 2017 beating of a teenage boy.
Drake is currently charged with first-degree murder in Holladay’s death, which carries a possible sentence of life imprisonment with no possibility of parole for 50 years.
