Attorneys ask court to seal case against man accused of killing Ole Miss student Jay Lee

Prosecutors and defense attorneys have petitioned the Lafayette County Circuit Court to seal the case against Sheldon “Timothy” Herrington Jr., who was indicted on a capital murder charge for the death of Jimmie "Jay" Lee.

Lafayette County District Attorney Ben Creekmore and Herrington's defense attorney Kevin Horan filed the joint motion on July 15.

According to court documents, both parties are asking for the case to be sealed because there has been "extensive pretrial publicity" due to "significant" media coverage.

The filing states that the only way Herrington's right to a fair trial will be secured is if a judge agrees to seal pretrial fillings of docket entries, motions, exhibits, subpoenas and notices.

"Additionally, parties would show that the press’s presumptive qualification of access to trial and pretrial processes be overcome by an overriding interest that closure is essential to preserve “higher values and is narrowly tailored to serve that interest,'" the filing reads.

Lafayette County Circuit Court Judge Kelly Luther issued an order Monday setting a 9 a.m. Thursday hearing on the motion to seal.

The July 15 motion comes a little over a month after Horan filed his own motion seeking a change in venue to secure an unbiased jury.

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Horan requested that the trial be moved out of Lafayette County, where the university is located and where Lee disappeared on July 8, 2022.

Lee, 20, was last seen leaving the Campus Walk Apartments in Oxford on July 8, 2022. Previous Clarion Ledger reporting states, Lee drove away in a 2014 black Ford Fusion with a custom "JAYLEE1" license plate and has not been heard from since. The vehicle was later recovered at another apartment complex, but Lee's body still has not been found.

Lee was a well-known member of the Oxford LGBTQ+ community as well as in Lee's hometown of Jackson, according to previous reports . Lee was also known for posting makeup tutorials and personal life updates on TikTok and other social media outlets.

According to June 3 court documents, Horan said there has been "extensive news coverage of the alleged facts" in this case, believing things will "potentially worsen" as the case moves forward. Horan also mentioned social media posts with “negative and false information about Herrington, and positive information and support of Jay Lee."

"There has been so much publicity about this case that Defendant Herrington cannot get a fair trial in Lafeyette County, Mississippi," Horan wrote in his June 3 request.

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Authorities arrested Herrington Jr., who was 22 years old at the time of his arrest , two weeks after Lee's disappearance.

Herrington later filed a lawsuit in October 2022 through his attorney, Horan, claiming he had been illegally jailed , that the court had no direct evidence to implicate him in Lee’s murder and that detectives made the arrest after tracking Lee and Herrington’s movements through social networking applications and surveillance footage, according to previous Clarion Ledger reporting.

Clarion Ledger reporting shows Herrington Jr. was released on a $250,000 bond in early December 2022, but Herrington was later indicted in March 2023 by a Lafayette County Grand Jury on a capital murder charge in Lee's death.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Attorneys ask court to seal case against man accused of killing Ole Miss student Jay Lee