Sheldon “Timothy” Herrington, Jr., the man accused of killing Ole Miss student Jimmie “Jay” Lee, will face one less charge when he appears in court for a retrial on Oct. 13.
After Lee’s remains were discovered by hunters in Carroll County during an extended deer season in early February, law enforcement officials added a tampering with evidence charge to Herrington’s record. The Grenada native turned himself in to police in the aftermath of the new charge.
However, his attorney, Aafram Sellers, filed a motion to dismiss the tampering with evidence on Feb. 18, citing state-of-limitation concerns. On Friday, Lafayette County Circuit Court Judge Kelly Luther approved Sellers’ motion and dropped the charge. This follows Herrington’s bond being denied just a week ago.
Herrington is accused of murdering Lee, a prominent figure in the Oxford LGBTQ+ community, in 2022 to cover up a romantic relationship the two were having. A mistrial was declared in December after the jury failed to reach a consensus on whether to charge Herrington with capital murder, first-degree or second-degree murder, culpable negligence manslaughter, or find him not guilty.
An 11-1 vote favored conviction, but the lone dissenting vote required new proceedings. Ahead of the retrial, the state has made it clear that it is not pursuing the death penalty in Herrington’s case.