Before a full retrial could be carried out, Sheldon Timothy Herrington Jr. pleaded guilty Monday in connection with the disappearance and death of University of Mississippi student Jimmie “Jay” Lee.

Per multiple outlets, Herrington pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and tampering with evidence. The guilty plea came hours into jurors being selected in Madison County and set to be transported to Lafayette County for his second trial.

Herrington will be sentenced in Oxford on Tuesday at 10 a.m.

Lee went missing on July 8, 2022, and weeks into his disappearance, Herrington was arrested and charged with killing him. According to prosecutors, Herrington murdered Lee, a member of Oxford’s LGBTQ+ community, to conceal a romantic relationship the two were having at the time.

Herrington was

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