OXFORD, Miss.—The State of Mississippi will not seek the death penalty against Timothy Herrington in his second trial for the murder of Jimmie “Jay” Lee, despite the discovery of the victim’s body since the first trial.
Herrington appeared in Lafayette County Circuit Court Judge Kelly Luther’s courtroom for his bond hearing on Thursday, where the judge denied bond and ordered him to remain in the Lafayette County jail pending his new trial for capital murder.
“If the state had, prior to trial, asked me to revoke bond I probably would have, based on the evidence. Mr. Herrington is not entitled to bond, even though he has done what he’s supposed to, based on the evidence. … In layman’s terms, pressure on Mr. Herrington has gotten worse,” he said. Luther acknowledged, however, that Herrington had already declined to flee. “Pressure on him not to show up is worse than ever, but he’s here nonetheless.”
Lafayette County District Attorney Ben Creekmore confirmed that the state was not seeking the death penalty in the trial, just as they declined to do so in Herrington’s first trial. Previously, Creekmore told the Daily Journal that the discovery of Lee’s body may have changed the state’s interest in pursuing the death penalty.
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Late last year, Herrington was put on trial for the kidnapping and murder of Lee despite the fact that Lee’s body had not yet been discovered. Messages between Herrington and Lee indicated the two met shortly before Lee’s disappearance in July 2022, and prosecutors pointed to evidence that Herrington was spotted jogging out of the parking lot where Lee’s car was later found abandoned.
Prosecutors have long alleged that Herrington murdered Lee to conceal their sexual relationship. Lee, 20 at the time of his murder, was openly gay, but Herrington was not, prosecutors say.
Herrington’s first trial ended in a mistrial, with news outlets reporting that the jury had been deadlocked 11-1, with a single holdout declining to convict due to the lack of a body.
Then,
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