Current:Home > InvestMissing Ole Miss student declared legally dead as trial for man accused in his death looms -VisionFunds
Missing Ole Miss student declared legally dead as trial for man accused in his death looms
View
Date:2025-04-14 00:14:03
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi judge has declared a missing University of Mississippi student legally dead more than two years after his disappearance.
Jimmie “Jay” Lee, 20, was last seen July 8, 2022, driving from an apartment complex in Oxford. His vehicle was later recovered at another complex, but neither Lee nor his body were found.
Lee was well-known in the LGBTQ+ community in Oxford, and his disappearance sparked fear among students and residents.
Sheldon “Timothy” Herrington Jr. was arrested two weeks after Lee vanished and later indicted on a capital murder charge. Police have said Herrington’s cellphone history showed conversations between him and Lee on the morning Lee went missing. They said they found Google searches for “how long it takes to strangle someone” minutes after Lee reportedly told Herrington he was on his way to his apartment. Herrington has maintained his innocence.
Court documents show Lee’s parents filed a petition for declaration of death in the Lafayette County Circuit Court in September, The Clarion-Ledger reported. Judge Grady Tollison granted the request and signed the order in October, the newspaper said.
Tollison noted the court previously ruled the “proof is evident and the presumption great” that Lee was dead further stating the court’s opinion “has not changed.”
″(Lee) is a person that has undergone a catastrophic event that exposed him to imminent peril or danger reasonably expected to result in the loss of life. Further, that it is uncontradicted that Mr. Lee’s absence since the event cannot be satisfactorily explained after diligent search and inquiry by family, friends and multiple law enforcement agencies,” Tollison wrote in the one-page order.
Herrington’s attorney, Kevin Horan, did not immediately respond Tuesday to a telephone message seeking comment.
Herrington is set to face trial Dec. 2.
veryGood! (246)
Related
- Romantasy reigns on spicy BookTok: Recommendations from the internet’s favorite genre
- Where the stage is littered with glitter: The top 10 acts of Eurovision 2023
- Embracing the primal, letting it out and letting go at music festivals
- 'Sesame Street' introduces TJ, the show's first Filipino American muppet
- 'Vanderpump Rules' star DJ James Kennedy arrested on domestic violence charges
- Rabbi Harold Kushner, author of 'When Bad Things Happen to Good People,' dies at 88
- MTV Movie & TV Awards cancels its live show over writers strike
- It Cosmetics Flash Deal: Get $123 Worth of Products for Just $77
- Gen. Mark Milley's security detail and security clearance revoked, Pentagon says
- The summer movies, TV and music we can't wait for
Ranking
- Are Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp down? Meta says most issues resolved after outages
- 13 people killed as bus hits van on Pakistan motorway
- In 'Julieta and the Romeos,' a teen aims to uncover the identity of her mystery man
- Ray Romano on the real secret to a 35 year marriage
- Juan Soto to be introduced by Mets at Citi Field after striking record $765 million, 15
- China says it organized troops after U.S. spy plane flew over Taiwan Strait
- Kylie Jenner Denies “Silly” Claim She Shaded Selena Gomez: See the Singer’s Response
- 13 people killed as bus hits van on Pakistan motorway
Recommendation
Where will Elmo go? HBO moves away from 'Sesame Street'
Why aren't more people talking about James Corden's farewell to 'The Late Late Show'?
Fishermen find remains of missing father inside shark in Argentina
In 'Quietly Hostile,' Samantha Irby trains a cynical eye inward
The 401(k) millionaires club keeps growing. We'll tell you how to join.
Dame Edna creator Barry Humphries dies at age 89
PEN America gala honors Salman Rushdie, his first in-person appearance since stabbing
Striking Hollywood scribes ponder AI in the writer's room