A University of Mississippi student who went missing in 2022 was a happy person who chatted with his mother every day and called her every year to sing happy birthday, his mother testified Tuesday in the trial of the man accused of killing her son.
Stephanie Lee of Jackson, Mississippi, reported that her 20-year-old son, Jimmy “Jay” Lee, texted her at around 2 a.m. on July 8, 2022, to wish her happy birthday. She claimed she spotted the text when she awoke later and answered with a smiling emoji, expecting to hear from him again. She claimed he never phoned.
Sheldon “Timothy” Herrington Jr. of Grenada, Mississippi, faces capital murder charges in the killing of Jay Lee, a gay man who was last seen alive in Oxford hours after sending a birthday SMS to his mother.
Stephane Lee testified on the first day of Herrington’s trial at Oxford, following the opening arguments by the counsel. She expressed concern when hours passed and her son did not call her to sing for her birthday.
Stephanie Lee stated that she tracked Jay’s phone location, called the police several times to request a welfare check on her son, and had her oldest kid contact one of Jay’s friends to have that friend check Jay’s apartment.
Jose’ Reyes, a friend, said Tuesday that he did not find Jay but could hear Jay’s beloved Pomeranian puppy, Lexus (nicknamed Lexie), barking inside.
Jay Lee was well-known among the LGBTQ+ community in Oxford and at the University of Mississippi. His body has not been located. Lee’s parents sought that he be certified deceased, and a judge agreed in October.
Herrington has kept his innocence.
Gwen Agho, a deputy district attorney, told jurors Tuesday that Lee was a self-confident individual who dressed as he pleased, including wearing high heels on occasion.
“He walked to his beat,” Agho explained. “He knew who he was.”
According to Agho, Lee and Herrington saw each other twice in the hours leading up to his disappearance. She stated that the men had sexual contact during their initial meeting, and Lee was distraught when he left Herrington’s flat.
Herrington asked Lee back, and before Lee arrived, he looked up how long it takes to strangle someone, according to Agho.
Herrington “was not openly in the LGBTQ community,” Agho stated.
Kevin Horan, Herrington’s attorney, told jurors that prosecutors have “zero” evidence that Lee was slain or that any crime occurred in Herrington’s apartment, automobile, or Lee’s car.
“You are not going to hear anything that supports a finding of a killing or death, period,” Horan reported.
Multiple law enforcement agencies executed 71 search warrants, but “they haven’t recovered not one bit of direct evidence to support this case,” Horan stated.
Jurors were chosen Monday in Forrest County, approximately 250 miles (402 kilometers) south of Oxford. The trial is taking place at the Lafayette County Courthouse in Oxford.
Both Herrington and Lee had graduated from the University of Mississippi. Lee was earning his master’s degree.
Lee was recognized for his artistic expression through clothes and makeup, and he frequently participated in drag events in Oxford, according to a support group called Justice for Jay Lee.
Horan asked Reyes if Lee dressed “in a feminine manner” to attract males.
“He dressed as Jay Lee,” Reyes explained.
Police said cellphone records showed interactions between Herrington and Lee the morning Lee vanished. Surveillance video showed Herrington fleeing the scene where Lee’s car was discovered, and he was later spotted picking up a shovel and wheelbarrow at his parents’ home, investigators said.
Herrington, a University of Mississippi graduate, was arrested two weeks after Lee’s disappearance and released five months later on a $250,000 bond after agreeing to forfeit his passport and wear an ankle monitor. A grand jury indicted him in March 2023.
Prosecutors have stated that they do not intend to seek the death penalty, which means Herrington might face a life sentence if convicted. Mississippi law defines capital murder as a killing combined with another criminal, in this case, kidnapping.
