A Mississippi court, on December 2, 2025, sentenced a man from Grenada to 40 years in prison for killing an openly gay University of Mississippi student in an attempt to conceal their romantic relationship.
Per the Clarion Ledger, the convicted man, identified as Sheldon Timothy Herrington Jr., was handed the punishment after he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. That was after he initially entered a not-guilty plea. Herrington is said to have murdered Jimmie “Jay” Lee in 2022.
Though Lafayette County Circuit Court Judge Kelly Luther suspended 10 years of Herrington’s 40-year conviction, he was handed an additional 10-year sentence for tampering with evidence. That means he’s going to serve 40 years in prison.
After completing his sentence, Herrington has to complete 10 years of post-supervised release. This includes five years of supervised probation and five years of unsupervised probation.
Lee was 20 years old and a known member of the LGBTQ+ community in Oxford, Mississippi, at the time he was killed. Herrington was also a University of Mississippi graduate at the time. Lee is said to have gone missing on his mother’s birthday, which was on July 8, 2022. His mother contacted authorities to report his disappearance.
Authorities ultimately arrested and charged Herrington in connection with Lee’s killing some weeks after he went missing. Herrington is said to have killed Lee in an attempt to hide their romantic relationship.
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In 2024, Herrington stood trial for capital murder, but it ended in a mistrial, the Clarion Ledger reported. A second trial was then scheduled after Herrington was slapped with a new indictment.
During that period, authorities were yet to locate Lee’s body, though he had been legally declared dead by a judge in October 2024.
Lee’s body was found by deer hunters in Carroll County on February 1, 2025, and the Mississippi Crime Lab ultimately determined those were the 20-year-old’s remains. This resulted in a new indictment being brought against Herrington.
Prior to his sentencing Judge Luther stated that the court was “acutely aware” of the case being monitored by the nation.
Luther said that Lee “lived a lifestyle that was different from most people in Mississippi,” per the Clarion Ledger. Luther suggested that several people nationwide thought the case would be swept under the rug because of that.
Luther, however, said that “Mississippi got it right this time.”
“This case was investigated more thoroughly than any case I’ve ever dealt with in my 35 years in the criminal justice system,” Luther said. “It was defended … as well as any case I’ve dealt with in my 35 years. Everybody did their job.”
