The trial of a man accused of killing a University of Mississippi student who was well-known in the local LGBTQ+ community began in progress on Wednesday.
The trial is being held at Oxford, the location of the university, and Sheldon Timothy Herrington Jr., 24, is charged with capital murder in connection with the death of Jimmie Jay Lee, a gay man who vanished on July 8, 2022.
Although Lee’s body has never been located, a judge ruled him dead. Herrington did not testify and has insisted on his innocence.
During closing statements on Wednesday, prosecutors said that Lee left Herrington’s residence after a sexual encounter with Herrington ended tragically. According to their text exchanges, Lee was slain after returning after Herrington, who was not overtly gay, convinced him to do so by promising more sex.
Tim Herrington led a deceptive life. According to District Attorney Ben Creekmore, he lived a lie to his family. By promising to do something with Jay Lee, he deceived him into coming over there.
Kevin Horan, Herrington’s lawyer, has stated that without a body, prosecutors cannot establish Lee’s death. On Wednesday, he informed jurors that text communications demonstrated Herrington did not entice Lee to his residence.
Horan remarked of Lee, “He’s the one that’s being dominant anchoring this particular conversation.”
Investigators testified that since the day he vanished, Lee, 20, has not gotten in touch with friends or relatives, and his bank transactions and once-prolific social media posts have ceased.
Two weeks after Lee vanished, Herrington was taken into custody by the police. Oxford Police Chief Jeff McCutchen said Tuesday that Herington was interviewed by authorities twice that day and provided contradictory accounts of the hours leading up to Lee’s disappearance.
According to McCutchen, officers had previously gotten sexually explicit text exchanges between Herrington and Lee’s social media accounts during the last hours Lee was known to be alive before they spoke with Herrington.
Sgt. Benjamin Douglas of the University Police Department testified last week that Herrington searched for the answer to the question, “How long does it take to strangle someone?” at 5:56 a.m. using Google records that were obtained through a warrant.
At 6:03 a.m., Lee’s phone sent the last text message to Herrington’s social media account from a location close to Herrington’s residence, McCutchen said Tuesday. Just before 7:30 a.m., a mobile tower in a different area of Oxford last detected any signal from Lee’s phone, according to the police chief. Investigators previously testified that a security video captured Herrington jogging out of a parking lot where Lee’s car was left.
According to police testimony, Herrington was also captured on security footage the day Lee disappeared purchasing duct tape in Oxford and traveling to his birthplace of Grenada, which is located around one hour south of Oxford.
Ryan Baker, an intelligence officer with the Oxford Police Department who was a detective when he assisted with the investigation, said that Herrington comes from a wealthy family in Grenada, Mississippi, which is roughly 52 miles (84 kilometers) southwest of Oxford.
According to Baker, Herrington teaches youth Sunday school lessons at the church, his grandfather is the bishop of a church in Grenada, and other family members are employed there. According to Baker, Herrington was not presenting himself to his family or friends as gay. Both Herrington’s grandfather and father testified Tuesday that Herrington had never mentioned having lovers.
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. The jurors were told by the court to take into account lesser counts, such as manslaughter and murder.
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