Hearing to seal case files set for Thursday

 

The man accused of killing Jimmy “Jay” Lee in 2022, Sheldon “Timothy” Herrington Jr., received a new trial date Monday and he will face jurors from outside of Lafayette County.

Herrington was arrested on July 22, 2022, and charged with Lee’s murder. He was indicted on a capital murder charge and has been out on a $250,000 bond since December 2022.

Circuit Court Judge Kelly Luther ruled Monday on a previous motion filed in June by Herrington’s attorney, Kevin Horan, to change the venue of his client’s trial which was scheduled for October. Luther granted the motion; however, the trial will still be held in Lafayette County but the jury will be selected from another county. Which county has not yet been determined. Luther instructed the court to reach out to other court districts to arrange for jury selection from their jury pool.

Luther also ruled Monday to change the trial date to Dec. 2. Jurors will be sequestered during the expected 10-day trial and will need hotel rooms. Most area hotels are already booked up for most of October due to Ole Miss home football games.

According to the change of venue motion, Herrington’s defense team claims that since Herrington’s arrest, there has been “extensive news coverage of the alleged facts” and that “every step of the investigatory process, as well as court proceedings … has been widely published and well documented.”

Last week, on July 15, a joint motion was filed by District Attorney Ben Creekmore and Horan asking for the case to be sealed due to pretrial publicity and that sealing the case file is the “only measure that would protect the defendant from substantial probably fair trial prejudice.”

The court will consider that motion at 9 a.m. on Thursday at the Lafayette County Courthouse. While the state and defense agree, it is required to give at least 24 hours notice to allow for media and others to file any objections.

The motion was originally set for a hearing on Monday afternoon; however, Luther continued the hearing until Thursday after learning of the requirement to give public notice.

If convicted, Herrington could face the death penalty or life in prison without parole.

Lee, 20, was last seen at about 6 a.m. on July 8, 2022, when he left his apartment at Campus Walk Apartments.

Lee’s body has not yet been recovered.

During the bond hearing in August 2022, prosecutors said the two men had known each other for about four months and had recently entered into a sexual relationship.

Lee, who studied social work at Ole Miss, graduated with his bachelor’s degree in May 2022 and was planning on attending graduate school at Ole Miss.