Suspect asks for venue change in missing Ole Miss student murder trial
OXFORD — The capital murder trial for the alleged death of an Ole Miss student missing since July 2022 might be moved outside of Northeast Mississippi altogether.
Sheldon Timothy Herrington Jr., 23, of Grenada, is charged with capital murder in connection with the suspected death of Jimmy “Jay” Lee, 20, who has been missing since July 2022. Herrington was indicted in March 2023 and has been free on a $250,000 bond since December 2022.
According to the 134-page change-of-venue motion filed late Monday by defense attorney Kevin Horan, the pretrial publicity throughout the region will make it impossible for Herrington to get a fair trial in Lafayette County.
“There has been extensive news coverage of the alleged facts concerning this case,” Horan wrote. “This matter has been widely published and well documented in the media, and counsel for defendant has good reason to believe it will only continue and potentially worsen moving forward.”
The defense points to television and newspaper coverage of the case and several social media sites with posts that contain “negative and false information about Herrington, and positive information and support of ‘Jay’ Lee.”
Horan said the Lafayette County Circuit Clerk’s office has received numerous letters supporting Lee to coincide with the social media posts. He argued that the social media supporters have already reached their conclusions “that ‘justice’ must be served, and that people assume Herrington is guilty.
The defense attorney added that because of the pretrial publicity and local knowledge of the events and the people involved, his client cannot receive a fair trial in Lafayette County.
“The information that has been publicized online and in newspapers has been severely prejudicial to the defendant to the extent that the potential jury pool in Lafayette County has been irreversibly tainted,” Horan wrote.
Mississippi law allows the defense to request a change of venue if they can show they cannot receive a fair trial. The defense must file a petition with affidavits from two or more credible persons saying the defendant could not receive a fair and impartial trial in the county where the offense allegedly happened.
Horan presented affidavits from 19 Lafayette County citizens who said they have seen coverage on television, in newspapers and/or via social media not only about Herrington being arrested and charged but also coverage of Lee’s disappearance. Each person signed their name saying they believe Herrington could not receive a fair trial in Lafayette County or the surrounding area because of “prejudgement of his case or ill will” toward Herrington.
The defense says to have the trial in Lafayette County, “where the community has made it apparent of its strong feelings and prejudices towards Herrington would violate his rights to due process and a fair trial by an impartial jury.”
The motion did not suggest a possible location where Herrington could find a jury with no knowledge of the case, just that it be moved out of Lafayette County.
Herrington was originally arrested and charged with first degree murder. The grand jury indicted him on the charge of capital murder, with kidnapping being the underlying felony.
Lee was last seen leaving his west Oxford apartment on July 8, 2022, before 6 a.m. That same afternoon, his car was towed away from the Molly Barr Trails apartment complex, which is about three miles away on the north side of town.
Officials claim Herrington and Lee had a casual sexual relationship, but things went awry. Herrington has been accused of strangling Lee and then disposing of the body. Video surveillance shows Herrington running from the apartment complex where Lee’s car was later found. He was picked up by a friend at a nearby gas station.
Later that morning, Herrington drove a box truck to his parents’ house in Grenada, where he was seen picking up a long-handled shovel and a wheelbarrow.
While Lee’s body has not been found, law enforcement officials say he was very active on social media and called his mother six times a day. He went silent the day he disappeared. Authorities believe the silence shows Lee is dead.
During the preliminary hearing, prosecutors said Lee’s body was most likely in Lafayette or Grenada county, but the remains were not needed to show a crime took place.
