On Day 6 of the Jimmie Jay Lee trial in Oxford on Monday, a detective outlined the investigative actions taken prior to the arrest of Sheldon
Timothy Herrington Jr., who faces charges of murdering Jimmie Jay Lee. Lee, a 20-year-old student at the University of Mississippi and a
cherished figure within the Oxford LGBTQ+ community, disappeared on July 8, 2022. In October, a judge officially declared Lee legally deceased, though his body has never been found.
Herrington, 24, was apprehended two weeks after Lee’s disappearance. At the time of the indictment, Herrington, a 22-year-old Ole Miss
graduate from Grenada, faced a capital murder charge. Prosecutors allege that Herrington killed Lee to cover up their romantic involvement.
The timeline of events was pieced together from various surveillance footage, numerous witness accounts, data extracted from Herrington’s
devices, and subpoenas for information from social media platforms. Oxford Police Detective Ryan Baker testified that investigators were
unable to recover Lee’s phone. Below is a timeline of key events before and after Lee’s disappearance, as outlined by Baker:
Sheldon Timothy Herrington Jr., on trial for the murder of University of Mississippi student Jimmie “Jay” Lee, is seen looking toward the
courtroom during a lunch break on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024, in Oxford. (Bruce Newman, Pool)