Security cameras captured footage of University of Mississippi student Jimmy “Jay” Lee leaving his campus apartment twice on the morning of his disappearance, a key piece of evidence presented during the trial of the man accused of his murder.
Lee, a 20-year-old openly gay man and a well-known figure in the LGBTQ+ community in Oxford, was last seen on July 8, 2022.
Sheldon “Timothy” Herrington Jr., a 24-year-old from Grenada, Mississippi, faces a capital murder charge in connection to Lee’s death. Herrington, who has pleaded not guilty, was seen in text conversations with Lee on the morning Lee vanished, as revealed by phone records.
Jurors were shown video clips from campus security cameras that showed Lee leaving his apartment shortly after 4 a.m. wearing a robe and slippers, before returning about 40 minutes later.
He left again just before 6 a.m., looking at his cellphone. Khalid Fears, a friend of Lee’s, testified that he video-chatted with Lee around 6 a.m. that day, and Lee mentioned returning to see a man he had met earlier.
Captain Jane Mahan of the University Police Department explained the timeline of the video footage. After Lee failed to respond to his mother’s messages later that day, a welfare check was requested, leading to the investigation.
Mahan also detailed how campus police were alerted to Lee’s electronic key card usage but noted that there was no record of him returning to his apartment after leaving that morning.
Prosecutors have argued that Lee and Herrington met twice on the day Lee disappeared, with their first encounter involving sexual contact. The second meeting, according to Agho, occurred after Herrington allegedly researched how long it takes to strangle someone before Lee’s return.
A key witness, Kizziah Carter, testified that he saw Herrington jogging near Lee’s parked car around 7:30 a.m. and later gave him a ride to Herrington’s apartment. Surveillance footage also placed Herrington near the location where Lee’s car was found later that day, with Herrington later seen retrieving a shovel and wheelbarrow from his parents’ home.
Although Lee’s body has not been found, his social media activity ceased after July 8, 2022, and his credit card showed no further transactions, leading to a judge declaring him dead in October at the request of his parents.
Herrington was initially arrested two weeks after Lee’s disappearance, but he was released on bond five months later. A grand jury indicted him in March 2023.
During his defense, Herrington’s lawyer, Kevin Horan, argued that prosecutors had no proof of Lee’s death or any crime being committed. Both Lee and Herrington were University of Mississippi graduates, with Lee pursuing a master’s degree. Lee was known for his fashion, makeup, and performances in drag shows in Oxford, which led to his support from the Justice for Jay Lee group.
Prosecutors have decided not to seek the death penalty, meaning Herrington faces a potential life sentence if convicted. Capital murder charges in Mississippi require proof of a killing alongside another felony, such as kidnapping in this case.
