An Ole Miss student exchanged messages with the man now on trial in his killing, police say
In the final hours for the University of Mississippi student Jimmy ‘Jay’ Lee disappearedSexually explicit Snapchat messages were exchanged between his account and the account of the man now on trial for his murder, an investigator testified Thursday.
Sheldon “Timothy” Herrington Jr., 24, of Grenada, Mississippi, is accused of capital murder in the death of Lee, who disappeared on July 8, 2022.
Lee, 20, from Jackson, Mississippi, was a gay man who was well known in the LGBTQ+ community at Ole Miss and in Oxford, where the university is located and Herrington’s trial is held.
Lee’s body was never found, but a judge pronounced him dead. Herrington maintains his own innocence.
Herrington “was not openly a member of the LGBTQ community,” but evidence will show he had a relationship with Lee and is responsible for the death, Assistant District Attorney Gwen Agho said during opening arguments in Oxford on Tuesday.
Herrington’s attorney, Kevin Horan, told jurors that prosecutors have “zero” evidence that Lee was killed.
University Police Sergeant. Benjamin Douglas testified Thursday that investigators used search warrants to obtain cellphone records, information from social media accounts of Lee and Herrington and information about Herrington’s Internet searches on the day Lee disappeared until Herrington was arrested two weeks later.
One of Lee’s friends, Khalid Fears, testified Tuesday that he had a video call with Lee just before 6 a.m. on July 8, 2022. According to Fears, Lee had reported a sexual encounter with a man hours earlier that ended badly. Lee left his own apartment on campus to see the same man again, Fears said.
Douglas testified that Herrington’s Snapchat account sent a message to Lee’s account at about 5:25 a.m. saying, “Come back.” People using the two accounts then argued, and Lee’s account sent a message at 5:54 a.m. saying he was on his way. Douglas said Lee’s account sent its last message at 6:03 a.m.: “Open.”
Google data obtained through a warrant showed Herrington searched for “how long does it take to strangle someone” at 5:56 a.m., Douglas said.
An officer from another police department, the Oxford Police Department, testified that beginning at 7:18 a.m. on the morning of Lee’s disappearance, a car matching the description of Lee’s black sedan was captured on multiple security cameras driving through Oxford.
A camera showed the car pulling into a parking lot at the Molly Barr Trails apartment complex at 7:25 a.m., Lt. Mark Hodges testified. The same camera showed a man chasing out of the parking lot and onto Molly Barr Road moments later.
A witness, Kizziah Carter, testified Wednesday that he was driving home from work that morning around 7:30 a.m. and saw Herrington jogging along Molly Barr Road. Carter said he knew Herrington and honked the horn to greet him, and Herrington stopped him to ask for a ride.
Carter said he drove Herrington to Herrington’s apartment in another complex. Lee’s car was towed from Molly Barr Trails later that day.
Both Herrington and Lee were graduates of the University of Mississippi. Lee pursued a master’s degree. He was known for his creative expression through fashion and makeup and often performed in drag shows in Oxford, according to a support group called Justice for Jay Lee.
Prosecutors have announced they do not plan to pursue the death penalty, meaning Herrington could face life in prison if convicted. Mississippi law defines capital murder as a murder committed in conjunction with another crime – in this case, kidnapping.