A man has been sentenced to 40 years in prison after pleading guilty Monday to second-degree murder and related charges in the killing of a University of Mississippi graduate who was prominent in the LGBTQ community.
Sheldon “Timothy” Herrington Jr. entered the plea as he faced a second trial in the death of Jimmy “Jay” Lee, who disappeared from Oxford, Mississippi, in July 2022 and was later found dead.
Herrington will serve 30 years for second-degree murder and 10 years for tampering with evidence. His sentence also includes five years of supervised post-release and another five years of unsupervised post-release.
Herrington was arrested two weeks after Lee vanished and was initially charged with capital murder. He had previously pleaded not guilty, CBS affiliate WREG reported. The state said it did not plan to seek the death penalty.
A judge declared a mistrial last year after jurors failed to reach a verdict following more than nine and a half hours of deliberation. Jurors had been instructed to find Herrington guilty of capital murder, first-degree murder, second-degree murder, or manslaughter by culpable negligence, or not guilty, WREG reported.
Lee’s body had not yet been recovered during Herrington’s first trial, though a judge declared him dead. In February of this year, deer hunters discovered Lee’s skeletal remains in a wooded area, according to Mississippi Today.
During the first trial, prosecutors claimed Herrington, who was not openly gay, killed Lee after the two had a sexual encounter.
Mississippi Student Killing
Sheldon Timothy Herrington Jr., on trial for capital murder in the 2022 death of University of Mississippi student Jimmy “Jay” Lee, looks out into the courtroom during a lunch break in Oxford, Miss., on Dec. 3, 2024.
Bruce Newman / AP
Campus cameras showed Lee leaving his apartment shortly before 4 a.m. the day he disappeared, returning 40 minutes later, and then leaving again just before 6 a.m.
Prosecutors allege Lee had been at Herrington’s apartment, and when he left upset, Herrington invited him back. Authorities said Herrington searched “how long does it take to strangle someone” online before Lee returned.
The final text from Lee’s phone was sent at 6:03 a.m. to a social media account belonging to Herrington near his apartment, law enforcement testified. The two had previously exchanged sexually explicit messages.
Surveillance later captured Herrington jogging from a parking lot where Lee’s car was found. He was also seen picking up a shovel and wheelbarrow at his parents’ house, authorities said.
Herrington is from Grenada, Mississippi, about 52 miles southwest of Oxford. Lee’s body was found in neighboring Carroll County.
Both Herrington and Lee had graduated from the University of Mississippi. Lee had been pursuing a master’s degree and was known for creative expression through fashion and makeup, often performing in drag shows in Oxford, according to the support group Justice for Jay Lee.
Herrington’s and Lee’s lawyers were not immediately available for comment.
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