An officer who assisted in leading the investigation testified on Friday that the man on trial for the murder of Jimmie Jay Lee of the University of Mississippi provided police with contradictory information on the degree of their acquaintance.
Two weeks after Lee vanished in Oxford, Mississippi on July 8, 2022, investigators spoke with Sheldon Timothy Herrington Jr. After informing Herrington of his rights, two officers spoke with him at his Oxford flat before escorting him to a police headquarters for a follow-up questioning, according to one of the officers, Shane Fortner.
According to Fortner, who is currently the emergency management director of the city and was the lieutenant in charge of criminal investigations for the Oxford Police Department in July 2022, Herrington claimed in the initial interview that he knew Lee but had no sexual relationship with him.
Herrington claimed in the second interview that he and Lee had a closer bond and that they had sex a few hours prior to Lee going missing, according to Fortner. According to Fortner, he believed Herrington had lied in the initial interview because of that assertion.
Lee, a 20-year-old gay man from Jackson, Mississippi, was well-known in the LGBTQ+ community at Ole Miss and in Oxford, the location of the institution where Herrington’s trial is taking place. Grenada, Mississippi resident Herrington, 24, is accused of capital murder.
Although Lee’s body has never been located, a judge has pronounced him dead. Herrington insists he’s innocent.
According to Fortner, investigators had previously discovered security camera footage of a man they think was Herrington jogging out of the parking area where Lee’s car was discovered before police spoke with him. Additionally, Lee and Herrington’s Snapchat accounts exchanged sexually explicit messages, which the police had viewed.
Herrington spoke with two officers without an attorney present, according to police body camera footage played in Oxford court on Friday.
Herrington said that Lee might have gone to have casual intercourse with someone before being abducted when the officers asked him what he believed had happened to Lee, according to Fortner.
According to Fortner, I believe that Tim explained what he did to Jay Lee.
During opening remarks on Tuesday, assistant district attorney Gwen Agho stated that although Herrington was not publicly affiliated with the LGBTQ community, evidence will demonstrate that he had a relationship with Lee and was accountable for the death.
Prosecutors have no evidence that Lee was killed, Herrington’s lawyer Kevin Horan informed jurors.
Lee and Herrington did not reside in the Molly Barr Trails apartment complex in Oxford, where Lee’s car was towed the day he vanished.
According to Fortner, Herrington stated in his initial police interview that he had not visited that complex in months because it was typical for cars to be dragged away. A few minutes after Lee’s car pulled up, investigators had already seen security camera footage of a man they thought was Herrington jogging out of the Molly Barr Trails parking lot.
Lee and Herrington were both University of Mississippi graduates. Lee had a master’s degree in progress. A support organization called Justice for Jay Lee claims that he frequently participated in drag shows in Oxford and was well-known for his artistic use of makeup and clothing.
Herrington might receive a life sentence if found guilty, since prosecutors have stated they do not plan to seek the death penalty. According to Mississippi law, capital murder occurs when a murder is done in conjunction with another crime, in this case, kidnapping.
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