Man accused of murdering Ole Miss student released on bond

OXFORD, Miss. (WMC) - Timothy Herrington Jr., 22, the man charged with first-degree murder in the missing person’s case of, Jimmie “Jay” Lee, was released on bond Thursday.

Lee’s body has not been found since he went missing in Oxford in July.

Friends of Jay Lee who have since formed an organization “Justice for Jay Lee” posted to Instagram saying, “Today a murderer was released... and tomorrow we continue to fight to get justice for Jay Lee.”

Lee was last seen at the Campus Walk Apartments on July 8. Two weeks later, Herrington was charged with Lee’s murder.

Herrington has maintained his innocence since being charged and previously filed a lawsuit against Lafayette County Sheriff’s Department claiming he was being illegally held in jail.

Herrington says there has been 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, as well as the use of “cadaver dogs” which conducted a search at Herrington’s apartment.

Herrington had been in jail in Lafayette County without bail since July 22. He made his first court appearance on July 27.

Herrington made a second appearance in court in August and was denied bond. It was then that prosecutors said Herrington and Lee had a sexual relationship.

For Thursday’s release, District Attorney Ben Creekmore and Herrington’s defense team made an agreement for Herrington to receive bond while surrendering his passport and wearing an ankle monitor.

He was released on a $250,000 bond.

Creekmore says Herrington’s defense lawyer also withdrew habeus corpus in lieu of the agreement.

Herrington’s family released the following statement Thursday night:

“We are grateful that Lafayette County saw fit to grant bond for Timothy. As an upstanding citizen, Timothy will abide by all restrictions set forth by Lafayette County.”

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