A mistrial was declared Wednesday in the case against Sheldon "Timothy" Herrington Jr. over the 2022 killing of Jimmy "Jay" Lee, a gay University of Mississippi student prominent in the school's LGBTQ+ community. The jury was unable to reach a verdict after more than nine hours of deliberation. Lee's body has yet to be found, but he has been legally declared dead. Herrington, 24, faced charges of capital murder and kidnapping, but the prosecution did not seek the death penalty, leaving the possibility of life imprisonment.
Herrington and Lee, both University of Mississippi graduates, allegedly exchanged explicit messages before Lee disappeared on July 8, 2022. Investigators presented evidence, including Herrington's online search history, which showed a query about strangulation on the morning Lee vanished. Prosecutors argued that Herrington, not openly gay, had coaxed Lee back to his apartment under false pretenses, leading to Lee's murder. In contrast, Herrington's attorney, Kevin Horan, challenged the evidence, arguing there's insufficient proof of Lee's death without a body.
The trial revealed conflicting accounts and significant electronic evidence. Herrington's conflicting statements during police interviews and surveillance images have been central to the investigation. Authorities recorded Lee's last phone activity from a location near Herrington's apartment on the morning of his disappearance. Surveillance footage also captured Herrington buying duct tape in Oxford and later traveling to his hometown. Jurors from a distant county reviewed eight days of testimony but ultimately reached no consensus. (This story was generated by Newser's AI chatbot. Source: the AP)
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