Sheldon Timothy Herrington Jr., the University of Mississippi graduate accused of killing a fellow student and well-known member of Oxford’s LGBTQ+ community, pleaded guilty Monday to second-degree murder and tampering with evidence. 

The son of a prominent family in Grenada, Herrington was facing capital murder – and a potential sentence of life in prison – for killing Jimmie “Jay” Lee in the summer of 2022 and hiding his body. During a previous trial that ended in a hung jury, prosecutors alleged Herrington’s motive was to preserve the secret of his sexual relationship with Lee. 

The prosecution said it will now recommend a 40-year sentence with 10 years suspended. 

“He has accepted responsibility on his own instead of a jury placing responsibility on him,” said Lafayette County District Attorney Ben Creekmore. 

The plea deal came two and a half hours into jury selection in Madison County for the second trial. A judge ordered jury selection to take place outside Lafayette County, where trial was to be held, due to media coverage there.

It would have been the second time Herrington faced a jury. At the time of the first trial in December of 2024, law enforcement had not yet located Lee’s remains – a reason one juror reportedly refused to convict, causing a hung jury, according to Action News 5. This time, though, the state had Lee’s remains, which were found earlier this year in a wooded gully in Carroll County close to Herrington’s parents’ home. 

Herrington had been in jail since he was indicted for a second time earlier this year. 

Lee’s older sister, Tayla Carey, said she was “overfilled with happiness” at the plea, adding, “it’s well overdue.” 

Shortly after Lafayette County Circuit Court Judge Kelly Luther began winnowing the jury pool, a clerk approached the bench with papers. This prompted Luther to pause the selection and issue a warning to the nearly 150 potential jurors not to speculate or discuss the subject of the case before releasing them into the hallway.

An hour later, the prosecution and Herrington’s defense, Jackson-area attorney Aafram Sellers, reached a deal. Herrington’s mother tearfully met with the defense lawyers before she left the courthouse. 

Sellers did not want to comment on the plea until after sentencing, scheduled for Tuesday at 10 a.m. in Oxford. But he said the deal was possible once both sides “got to the courthouse steps.” 

Creekmore said the deal was unexpected. Though the defense had initiated some negotiations, he said they were “not robust.” Hotel rooms in Oxford had been booked for the jury; lunches and dinners ordered.

Though Lee’s family was already in Oxford, Creekmore said that Herrington was present for the deliberations in Madison. 

This resolution saves Lee’s family the agony of another trial and potential appeals, Creekmore said. It also adds back the charge of tampering with evidence, which Sellers had been successful in removing due to the statute of limitations. 

“It’s a terrible, sad, tragic story, and I’m relieved that the family does not have to relive the trauma of what happened to Jay Lee again,” Creekmore said. 

In Madison, some of the potential jurors said they knew what the case was about. One woman said it had been on the news this morning. But others were unaware, even after learning they had been called for a case from Lafayette County. 

Last night, some of Lee’s friends gathered outside the Lafayette County Courthouse with members of the local LGBTQ+ community. 

On the courthouse’s white exterior, they projected a graduation picture of Lee surrounded by azalea flowers as well as the name of their movement, “Justice for Jay Lee.”