Sheldon Timothy Herrington Jr., who has been charged with the murder of University of Mississippi student Jimmie “Jay” Lee, was refused bond by Lafayette County Circuit Court Judge Gray Tollison at his hearing on Tuesday, Aug. 9.
Tollison denied Herrington bond on the grounds that the evidence presented by Lafayette County prosecutors was overwhelmingly implicating and that Herrington posed a flight risk.
“The court has reviewed the exhibits that were introduced and heard the testimony. And based on the testimony heard and exhibits presented … the court finds that the proof is evident and the presumption great that the defendant committed the capital offense of first-degree murder,” said Tollison.
The bond hearing also served as a preliminary hearing. Tollison said that based on the court’s assessment of the facts, there is sufficient reason to believe that a felony was committed by Herrington. The next step is for the case to be brought before a grand jury. A date for these proceedings has yet to be set.
The Aug. 9 hearing revealed many details of the case that were previously unknown to the public. Over the course of nearly six hours, both the defense and prosecution offered testimony, exhibits and arguments in an attempt to persuade the judge in their favor.
The prosecution, led by Assistant District Attorney Tiffany Kilpatrick, spent nearly two hours leveling evidence against Herrington through the testimony of Oxford Police Department Investigator Ryan Baker.
Kilpatrick painted a picture that began with Herrington and Lee sharing a casual sexual relationship and ended with Herrington murdering Lee, staging Lee’s vehicle at Molly Barr Apartments, driving Lee’s remains to Grenada in Herrington’s moving company’s box truck and dumping Lee’s body – which has yet to be recovered – somewhere between Lafayette and Grenada counties.
The most damning evidence was that Herrington Google searched, “How long does it take to strangle someone like Gabby Petito,” in the minutes before Lee arrived at his apartment at Herrington’s request.
Gabby Petito was the subject of a high-profile missing person case that became a murder case when it was discovered that her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, strangled her to death in August 2021.
Baker explained that even though Herrington did not click on any of the links that the search result generated, Google’s “featured snippet” feature answered Herrington’s question with a one-sentence result on the landing page.
“The first hit you get is an article talking about Dr. Dan Fields, referring to in his professional opinion, that it takes roughly 62 to 157 seconds,” said Baker.
Herrington made that search at 5:56 a.m. and a subsequent one asking, “Does pre-workout boost testosterone,” at 5:57 a.m., indicating that Herrington may have taken pre-workout, an energy-boosting supplement before Lee arrived.
Minutes later, at 6:04 a.m., Lee messaged Herrington to open his front door at Lafayette Place Apartments. This is the last location Lee’s phone was recorded.
The prosecution also indicated that cadaver dogs, provided by the DeSoto County Sheriff’s Department, found the scent of a dead body four times in Herrington’s apartment – three times in the bedroom and once in the living room/kitchen area.
Herrington’s attorney, State Rep. Kevin Horan, called into question the validity of that finding, questioning credentials and the kind of dog used.
Baker was unable to answer either question, saying it was out of his area of expertise, but he assured the court that OPD Police Chief Jeff McCutchen would likely have those answers.
Horan further argued that any canine findings were negligible without other evidence to substantiate them.
“According to what research I’ve found, before cadaver dogs, HRD dogs or even search dogs can be admitted into court as evidence, you have to have some other evidence that a crime occurred at a specific location. As far as Mr. Herrington’s residence, have you recovered any other trace evidence at that apartment?” Horan further questioned.
Baker responded that he did not recall any at that time.
Horan invited Herrington’s mother, Tina Herrington, to the stand, where she read a long list of Herrington’s academic achievements and accolades. She described her son as popular, well-known and well-liked in his community.
“Timmy, he’s just the kind of person whatever you asked him to do, he did it to help anyone, especially senior citizens and things like guitar lessons and tutoring. He helped everyone,” she said.
Tim Herrington is a 2022 graduate of the University of MIssissippi.
Tina Herrington spoke to the judge directly, asking that he grant Herrington bond. She explained that he was not independently wealthy, with just shy of $2,000 in his bank account, and that she would gladly turn over his passport to the court.
She and other character witnesses including educators and church congregation members took their turns testifying in an attempt to demonstrate to the court that Herrington did not pose a flight risk and had significant ties to his communities. However, the effort was ultimately unsuccessful.
At the beginning of the hearings, ADA Tiffany Kilpatrick called Lee’s mother, Stephanie Lee, to the stand. She delivered emotional testimony, revealing that the day Jay Lee went missing, July 8, was her birthday.
“July 8 is my birthday. And early that morning, I woke up – he (Jay Lee) had texted me and said, ‘Mom, it’s your birthday.’ That was about 2 a.m., so I didn’t quite respond at that time because I thought he had been up earlier that day, and I wanted to give him time to wake up,” she said.
That was the last text she would receive from Lee. Over the next 48 hours, Stephanie Lee described overwhelming worry and compounding suspicion that something was not right. She contacted the University Police Department to perform a welfare check at his apartment at Campus Walk, where Lee’s dog LuLu was left behind.
Stephanie Lee explained that Jay Lee never would leave the dog behind if he was departing for a long time, just like he never would go a day without talking to his mother, turn his location off or let his phone die. Stephanie and her husband traveled to Oxford from Biloxi, cutting a vacation short. She arrived in Oxford by midday July 9. The same day, Lee was declared missing.
During closing arguments, Kilpatrick laid out the reasons that Herrington should be denied bond.
“The Herrington described by family and friends here today would be and should be bailable. But that’s not who we have. We don’t trust the Tim Herrington that is ‘Red Eye.’ We don’t trust the Tim Herrington that is ‘Diamond CEO,’ ” said Kilpatrick, referencing names Herrington used on Snapchat. “They don’t know this other Tim Herrington. This double life. One that lives and hides in anonymity. That Tim Herrington is who killed Jay Lee. And that Tim Herrington should not be allowed bond.”
She also pointed to the fact that there is still evidence being processed at private crime labs, evidence that could be substantial enough to elevate Herrington’s charge to capital murder.
Horan argued the opposite, citing numerous cases in Lafayette County in which individuals charged with more substantial evidence had been granted bond. He attempted to write off Herrington’s travel searches to Singapore and Houston as the mark of a man who traveled frequently.
“Zero times in the state of Mississippi has canine proof been admitted into evidence. Zero. Without finding a body one time. Period. Not one time,” said Horan. “The state is asking this court to hold this individual without bail based on suppositions, conjecture and nothing more.”
