A 43-year-old man is dead following a physical fight Tuesday night in eastern Lawrence.
Law enforcement was dispatched just after 10:30 p.m. Tuesday to a dispute between two men near East 25th Terrace and Franklin Road. A Douglas County Sheriff’s Office deputy was the first to arrive on the scene in the immediate aftermath of the incident, according to a news release from the Lawrence Police Department.
Christopher Allen Lickteig, the 43-year-old man, was unconscious on the ground, and first responders were unable to save him, according to the release.
Officers detained a 34-year-old man at the scene. George Luke Miller, of Lawrence, was arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder and was being held without bond at the Douglas County jail as of early Wednesday. He had not yet been charged.
“The events and circumstances of the evening, including whether the two men knew each other, are still being investigated,” according to the release. “At this early stage of the investigation, detectives do not believe weapons were involved, nor did they recover one at the scene. While we have already interviewed several witnesses, we will continue to gather evidence and track down leads to determine what led up to the event.”
Lickteig’s family has been notified, according to the release.
Police ask that anyone who may have information about the incident call dispatch at 785-832-7509. Information may be provided anonymously to Crime Stoppers of Lawrence and Douglas County at 785-843-TIPS (8477).
All arrestees and defendants in criminal cases should be presumed not guilty unless they are convicted.
Update:
Witnesses told police they saw Miller strangling Lickteig to death. The Douglas County district attorney’s office charged Miller with second-degree murder on Thursday, June 13, 2024.
Miller signed a plea agreement in December 2024, pleading no contest to involuntary manslaughter. The charge is a level-5, or midlevel-severity, felony.
He was sentenced in February 2025 to 57 months, or almost five years, in prison. He will have two years of post-release supervision, and he must register as a violent offender for 15 years.
Miller was represented by Jessica Glendening, chief Douglas County public defender. Senior Assistant District Attorney Ricardo Leal prosecuted the case.
If local news matters to you, please help us keep doing this work.
Don’t miss a beat … Click here to sign up for our email newsletters
Click here to learn more about our newsletters first
This post is by the Lawrence Times news team.
If you have news tips, questions, comments, concerns, compliments or corrections for our team, please reach out and let us know what’s on your mind. Email us at Hello@LawrenceKSTimes.com (don’t forget the KS!), or find more contact info and a quick contact form at LawrenceKSTimes.com/contact.
Follow us so you won’t miss the local news that matters most to you:
Latest Lawrence news:
Nathan Kramer / Lawrence Times
Molly Adams / Lawrence Times
