Trial begins for a man charged in the killing of a University of Mississippi student

A University of Mississippi student who disappeared in 2022 was a happy person who spoke with his mother daily and called her every year to sing happy birthday, his mom testified Tuesday in the trial of the man charged with killing her son.

Stephanie Lee of Jackson, Mississippi, said her 20-year-old son, Jimmy “Jay” Lee, texted her at about 2 a.m. on July 8, 2022, to wish her a happy birthday. She said she saw the text when she woke up later, and she responded with a smile emoji, expecting to hear from him again. She said he never called.

Sheldon “Timothy” Herrington Jr. of Grenada, Mississippi, is charged with capital murder in the death of Jay Lee, a gay man who was last seen alive in Oxford hours after he sent the birthday text to his mother.

Tuesday was the first day of Herrington's trial in Oxford, and Stephane Lee testified after attorneys made their opening arguments. She said she worried when hours passed and her son didn't call her to sing for her birthday.

Stephanie Lee said she checked Jay's phone location, called police multiple times asking them to do a welfare check on her son and had her oldest child reach out to one of Jay's friends to have that friend check Jay's apartment.

The friend, Jose' Reyes, testified Tuesday that he did not find Jay but said he could hear Jay's beloved Pomeranian dog, Lexus — nicknamed Lexie — barking inside.

Jay Lee was well-known in the LGBTQ+ community in Oxford and the University of Mississippi. His body has not been found. In October, a judge declared him dead after Lee’s parents requested that declaration.

Herrington has maintained his innocence.

An assistant district attorney, Gwen Agho, told jurors Tuesday that Lee was a confident person who dressed as he liked, sometimes wearing high heels.

“He walked to his own beat,” Agho said. “He knew who he was.”

Lee and Herrington saw each other twice during the hours before Lee disappeared, Agho said. She said the men had sexual contact during their first meeting, and Lee was upset when he left Herrington's apartment.

Herrington invited Lee back — and before Lee arrived, Herrington searched online for how long it takes to strangle someone, Agho said.

Herrington “was not openly in the LGBTQ community,” Agho said.

Herrington's attorney, Kevin Horan, told jurors that prosecutors have “zero” proof Lee was killed or that any crime occurred in Herrington's apartment or car or in Lee's car.

“You are not going to hear anything that supports a finding of a killing or death, period,” Horan said.

Multiple law enforcement agencies used 71 search warrants, and “they haven't recovered not one bit of direct evidence to support this case," Horan said.

Jurors were chosen Monday in Forrest County, about 250 miles (402 kilometers) south of Oxford. The trial is being held at the Lafayette County Courthouse in Oxford.

Both Herrington and Lee had graduated from the University of Mississippi. Lee was pursuing a master’s degree.

Lee was known for his creative expression through fashion and makeup and often performed in drag shows in Oxford, according to a support group called Justice for Jay Lee.

Horan asked Reyes if Lee dressed “in a feminine manner” to try to attract men.

“He dressed as Jay Lee,” Reyes said.

Police said cellphone history showed conversations between Herrington and Lee the morning that Lee disappeared. Surveillance video recorded Herrington running from where Lee’s car was found, and he was later seen picking up a shovel and wheelbarrow at his parents’ house, authorities said.

Herrington, who had graduated from the University of Mississippi, was arrested two weeks after Lee vanished, then released five months later on a $250,000 bond after agreeing to surrender his passport and wear an ankle monitor. A grand jury indicted him in March 2023.

Prosecutors have announced they do not intend to pursue the death penalty, meaning Herrington could get a life sentence if convicted. Mississippi law defines capital murder as a killing committed along with another felony — in this case, kidnapping.