A court on Tuesday sentenced 25-year-old Sheldon “Timothy” Herrington Jr. to 40 years in prison for the July 2022 slaying of gay University of Mississippi student Jimmie “Jay” Lee. Prosecutors said Herrington murdered Lee to hide their sexual relationship. Herrington pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and tampering with evidence.

Police arrested Herrington and charged him with murder two weeks after Lee’s disappearance, but investigators only found Lee’s remains last February after local hunters found it in a Carroll County forest.

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Investigators found that Lee Googled “how long does it take to strangle someone” just two minutes before Lee was last seen alive on surveillance footage, leaving his apartment in a silver robe, gold sleeping cap and slippers.

Security cameras later spotted Herrington driving Lee’s car to another apartment complex, but he never went inside an apartment there. Shortly afterward, surveillance footage captured someone resembling Herrington jogging away in a gray hoodie and flagging down a ride at a nearby gas station.

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Prosecutors said that Herrington then picked up a box truck belonging to his moving company and drove it to his parent’s house in Grenada where he retrieved a long-handle shovel and wheelbarrow. Security cameras showed Herrington later purchasing duct tape, which, police say, matched duct tape strips found around Lee’s skeletal corpse earlier this year.

Police dogs caught the scent of a cadaver inside Herrington’s apartment, the moving truck, and SUV, where investigators also found strands of hair.

Following the sentencing, Judge John Kelly Luther said, “The state of Mississippi does not have a good reputation in matters concerning … a lifestyle that was different [from most state residents] … quite frankly,” adding, “I want the world to know that Mississippi got it right this time.” 

Lee, 20, was a well-known member of Oxford’s LBGTQ community who regularly performed at Code Pink, a local drag night. Lee ran for homecoming king last year to promote a platform of “self love and living your truth.” He repeatedly spoke out about being harassed for wearing women’s clothing.

Herrington was a member of the Abundant Life Assembly church in Grenada. His father served as the church’s assistant pastor.

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