District Attorney Ben Creekmore and defense attorney Kevin Horan filed a motion on July 15 to seal further pretrial proceedings in the case against Sheldon Timothy Herrington Jr., who was indicted for the 2022 murder of Ole Miss student Jimmy “Jay” Lee.

The motion, which will be heard at 9 a.m. Thursday, July 25, in the Lafayette County courthouse, was filed on the basis of pretrial publicity.

“The parties would show at a hearing on this motion that in light of extensive pretrial publicity that closure is the only measure that would protect the Defendant from substantial, probable fair trial prejudice, and that reasonable alternatives to closure cannot adequately protect the Defendant’s free trial rights,” the motion said.

This comes after Horan filed a change of venue motion for the trial in June. That motion – which was also filed on the basis of pretrial publicity – was heard on Monday, according to the Oxford Eagle. While the trial will still be held in Lafayette County, Circuit Court Judge Kelly Luther ruled to move the trial to Dec. 2 and for the jury to be selected from another county.

Creekmore spoke to The Daily Mississippian about why he decided to file the most recent motion.

“My interest is only to protect the potential jurors, wherever the court picks ( them from), from being influenced by any information that doesn’t come in through the court,” Creekmore said.

The Daily Mississippian has reached out to Horan, who is also a Mississippi state representative, but has received no response upon publication. 

Herrington, a UM graduate, was arrested and charged with Lee’s murder on July 22, 2022, and released on a $250,000 bond in December 2022. Lee, a 2022 UM graduate and prominent member of the Oxford queer community, was last seen on July 8, 2022, leaving his home at Campus Walk Apartments. His body has yet to be recovered.