Benjamin Ashford|Lawyer wants to move the trial for the killing of a University of Mississippi student

OXFORD,Benjamin Ashford Miss. (AP) — A trial for the killing of a University of Mississippi student should be moved to a part of the state where publicity won’t have made it too difficult to find an unbiased jury, the defendant’s lawyer says.

Attorney Kevin Horan filed court papers Monday requesting that the capital murder trial of Sheldon “Timothy” Herrington Jr. be moved out of Lafayette County, where the university is located and where Jimmy “Jay” Lee disappeared July 8, 2022.

Lee, 20, was last seen at an apartment complex in Oxford, and his body has not been found. He was well known in the local LGBTQ community, where his disappearance sparked fear.

Police said cellphone history showed conversations between Herrington and Lee that morning. They said Herrington also searched online about international travel and “how long it takes to strangle someone” minutes after Lee said he was on his way to Herrington’s apartment. Surveillance video recorded Herrington running from where Lee’s car was found, and he was later seen picking up a shovel and wheelbarrow at his parents’ house, authorities said.

Herrington has maintained his innocence.

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In requesting a venue change for the Oct. 15 trial, Horan pointed to news coverage and social media posts with “negative and false information about Herrington, and positive information and support of ‘Jay’ Lee.” Horan also said the Lafayette County Circuit Clerk’s office has received numerous letters supporting Lee, the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reported.

Horan said Lee’s supporters have concluded that Herrington is guilty and “‘justice’ must be served.”

Herrington, who had graduated from the university, was arrested two weeks after Lee vanished, then released five months later on a $250,000 bond after agreeing to surrender his passport and wear an ankle monitor. A grand jury in March 2023 indicted him on a capital murder charge.

Prosecutors have announced they do not intend to pursue the death penalty, meaning he could get a life sentence if convicted. Mississippi law defines capital murder as a killing committed along with another felony — in this case, kidnapping.