The bond hearing for Sheldon “Timothy” Herrington, Jr., the man accused of killing Ole Miss student Jimmie “Jay” Lee, has been rescheduled.
Herrington will appear in the Lafayette County Court on Thursday, Feb. 27 at 10 a.m. in connection with capital murder and tampering with evidence charges levied against him following Lee’s death and the subsequent discovery of the victim’s remains in Carroll County.
The suspect turned himself in to the Oxford Police Department on Feb. 12 after human remains were found by hunters earlier this month and confirmed by the State Crime Lab as belonging to Lee. Herrington’s initial bond hearing was scheduled for this Friday, but his attorney, Aafrem Sellers, had the date moved amid a challenge filed regarding his client’s evidence tampering charge.
Authorities in Oxford first arrested Herrington two weeks after Lee’s July 2022 disappearance. Herrington, a Grenada native, was accused of killing Lee to conceal a romantic relationship the two were having. The alleged killer stood trial on a capital murder charge with state Rep. Kevin Horan serving as his lead legal counsel last December.
During court proceedings in Lafayette County, it was discovered that Herrington had used Google on his computer to search, “How long does it take to strangle someone gabby petito [sic]” – referring to the high-profile case of a New York 22-year-old killed by her fiancé in 2021 – just moments after Lee told Herrington he was coming over on the last day Lee was seen by anyone other than Herrington.
Additionally, after Lee’s disappearance, video surveillance at the Walmart in Oxford showed Herrington looking at large trash cans but only purchasing duct tape. Herrington later traveled to Grenada, operating a box truck that was said to be used for his moving business, and acquired a shovel, wheelbarrow, and lap pads.
Ultimately, a mistrial was declared as the jury could not reach a consensus agreement as to whether to convict Herrington of capital murder, first-degree murder, second-degree murder, culpable negligence manslaughter, or find him not guilty. Despite the 11-1 vote favoring a conviction, the lone dissenter spurred a final decision, leaving Circuit Judge Kelly Luther to reach out to prosecutors and defense attorneys about setting a date for a retrial.
The dissenting juror’s holdbacks in committing to convict Herrington of the crime was the lack of the victim’s body. Now that Lee’s body has been found — in a neighboring county to Herrington’s childhood home — a new trial will pose new challenges and now a new charge to the defense, which has consistently maintained the suspect’s innocence.
