Over two years after the disappearance of a student at the University of Mississippi, a Lafayette County judge has declared him legally dead.
Jimmie “Jay” Lee, a 20-year-old remembered as a beloved member of the LGBTQ+ community in Oxford, was last seen on July 8, 2022. Court documents show his parents filed a request for declaration of legal death in the Lafayette County Circuit Court in September. The request was recently granted, according to multiple reports.
Jimmie and Stephanie Lee, parents of Jimmie “Jay” Lee, filed the motion under the “Zeb Hughes Law,” which went into effect July 1 and allows family members who underwent a “catastrophic event that exposed the person to imminent peril or danger” to not have to wait the usual seven years after a person goes missing to petition the court regarding death status. The Lees reiterated in the filing that they have not heard from their son since his disappearance.
Lee’s alleged killer, Sheldon “Timothy” Herrington, Jr., is set to face trial next month after multiple continuances. Herrington, 23, was arrested on July 22, 2022, and charged with first-degree murder in conjunction with Lee’s sudden disappearance. Investigators on the case reported that Herrington and Lee had been in an intimate relationship with each other prior to Lee going missing. Prosecutors argue Herrington killed Lee to cover up the relationship.
According to court documents from previous hearings, investigators found that Herrington had gone to Google on his computer to search, “How long does it take to strangle someone?” just moments after Lee told Herrington he was coming to his apartment on the last day Lee was seen by anyone else. Video surveillance showed Herrington running from the Oxford apartment complex, where Lee’s car was later found, before being picked up by a friend at a nearby gas station.
Detective Ryan Baker with the Oxford Police Department added that cadaver dogs were alerted four times to the aroma of a dead body inside Herrington’s apartment, twice inside his car, and once inside a box-moving truck he had access to. However, no body has been found to this day. Herrington’s legal team has argued that the dogs were not verified to detect human remains, as they continue to proclaim their client’s innocence.
Though bond was initially denied for Herrington, a lawsuit against the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Department based on wrongful confinement resulted in Herrington being released with an ankle monitor. His legal team is headed by state Rep. Kevin Horan, a Grenada attorney.
The trial is scheduled for Dec. 2, 2024, in Lafayette County. The jury will most likely come from other parts of the state as Herrington’s team has previously argued that a fair trial cannot be conducted inside the county limits. The jury will be sequestered for the duration of the trial, which is expected to last up to two weeks.
