A man was sentenced to 40 years in prison for the murder of an openly gay Ole Miss student with whom he was reportedly involved in a secret relationship.
Sheldon “Timothy” Herrington Jr., 25, was sentenced to 40 years in prison on Dec. 2, 2025, after pleading guilty to second-degree murder and evidence tampering in the 2022 death of 20-year-old Jimmie “Jay” Lee, the Clarion-Ledger reports. The sentencing brought closure to a case that had lasted over three years and gave Lee’s family the chance to face the man who killed the beloved Ole Miss student.
“I knew from the beginning that you did this, and I believe your family knew,” Jimmie Lee Sr. told Herrington. “I had to witness my son’s skeletal remains. I touched his skull; no father should have to go through that. No family should have to go through that.”
Lee was a standout at Ole Miss as a proud member and advocate of the school’s LGBTQ+ community. When the Jackson native went missing on July 8, 2022, many took notice. Herrington, a graduate of Ole Miss from Grenada, was soon charged with capital murder after investigators found sexually explicit messages between them and searches on his device about strangulation.
Prosecutors alleged Lee was killed following a sexual encounter, noting his final text was sent near Herrington’s Oxford, Mississippi, apartment. Lee’s abandoned car was later found on security cameras, and a judge eventually declared him dead in absentia. Herrington, who denied the allegations, faced a capital murder trial, but a mistrial was declared in December 2024 after jurors couldn’t reach a verdict. His attorney argued a conviction wasn’t possible without a body.
But the case took a turn in February 2025 when Lee’s decomposed remains were discovered in Carroll County, about 90 minutes from his home. The coroner could not determine the cause of death due to the state of the remains. Herrington was indicted again and set for retrial on capital murder and evidence-tampering charges, maintaining his innocence until pleading guilty in December 2025.
Herrington’s attorney, Aafram Sellers, said that his client never explained why he killed Lee. Prosecutors believe Herrington acted to keep their romantic relationship secret. Sellers added that he doesn’t think it was in Lee’s “character” to have outed Herrington.
“I had to witness my son’s skeletal remains. I touched his skull. No father should have to go through that. No parent should have to go through that. … Jay trusted you,” Lee’s father told Herrington at the sentencing.
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