The University of Mississippi graduate accused of killing Jimmie “Jay” Lee was indicted for tampering with physical evidence, a new charge that comes on the heels of the unexpected discovery of Lee’s body last week.

Sheldon Timothy Herrington Jr. reported to the Lafayette County Circuit Court on Tuesday to face a new indictment that alleges he obstructed justice by hiding Lee’s body after he killed Lee on July 8, 2022.

Herrington, who pleaded not guilty, was also appointed a public defender, Oxford-based attorney Denise Fondren, according to multiple reports. Then he was taken to jail where he will remain until his bond hearing next week.

That’s when Lafayette County District Attorney Ben Creekmore said he would announce if the state will seek the death penalty or life in prison in the event Herrington is convicted of capital murder at the next trial, a date for which has yet to be set.

Creekmore did not pursue the death penalty at the trial in December, but he told the Daily Journal that the finding of Lee’s body last week was a “material change in circumstances.”

READ MORE: ‘Hopelessly deadlocked’: Judge declares mistrial in Tim Herrington trial

Lee’s body was discovered last week at a well-known dumping site in Carroll County, about a half-hour from Herrington’s parent’s house. The day Lee went missing, Herrington was seen on video retrieving a long-handle shovel and wheelbarrow from his parent’s house and putting it into the back of a box truck that belonged to his moving company, according to evidence released in the case.

Also last week, the Oxford Police Department pulled from the court’s evidence file a partially used roll of duct tape that was discovered in Herrington’s apartment after police brought him in for questioning. Herrington purchased duct tape the morning Lee went missing, according to a receipt that police obtained.

READ MORE: Police investigation into Ole Miss student killing: Timeline, what we know so far

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Five House seats will be re-decided in a November special election, pending court approval, under a resolution the House approved to comply with a federal court order.

Even though voters just elected members of the Legislature in 2023, the races will be held again because a three-judge federal panel determined last year that the Legislature did not create enough Black-majority districts when it redrew its districts.

 The panel ordered the state to redraw the districts and create a new majority-Black district in north Mississippi’s Chickasaw County. 

House Elections Chairman Noah Sanford, R-Collins, told House members he believes the new map complies with the federal Voting Rights Act and will allow Black voters in Chickasaw County to elect a candidate of their choice. 

“I tried to keep the number of members affected minimal,” Sanford said. 

The House plan does not require incumbent legislators to run against each other. The main change in the new map is that it makes the District 22 seat in Chickasaw County, currently held by Republican Rep. Jon Lancaster of Houston, who is white and a majority-Black voter district. 

The other four House districts that lawmakers voted to redraw are: 

Lancaster told Mississippi Today he did not want to comment on the proposed maps since the litigation over the legislative districts was still pending, and he did not know if he would run in a November special election. 

Under the legislation, the qualifying period will run from May 19 to May 30. The primary election will be held on August 5, with a potential primary runoff on September 2 and the general election on November 4. 

The federal courts also ruled that the Senate must redraw its districts to create a new Black-majority district in the DeSoto County and Hattiesburg areas. 

Senate Rules Chairman Dean Kirby, R-Pearl, has introduced a measure to change some Senate districts. However, he told Mississippi Today he is still tweaking the plan and does not know when the Rules Committee will debate it. 

Once the Legislature passes a redistricting plan, it must go back before the federal courts for approval.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Feb. 11, 1644

The first known legal protest by those of African descent in what became the United States took place when 11 Black Americans petitioned the Council for New Netherland (New York) for freedom, saying they had fulfilled their contracts to the Dutch West India Co. 

They had been brought to the colony just a few years after its 1624 founding. They won their fight, but they remained in legal limbo in what became known as “half-freedom.” They received property, but they still had to pay crops and cattle to the company each year. 

One of them, Manuel de Gerrit de Reus, was accused with eight others of killing a Black man. The company decided to execute only one of them, and de Reus drew the short straw. But when the officials tried to execute him, both nooses around his neck broke. At the behest of witnesses, they pardoned him instead. 

Five months later, eight Black Americans returned to court, demanding their full freedom. They cited the arrival of English soldiers, who might re-enslave them. Despite those fears, the Black Americans managed to keep their freedom and lived north of what is now Washington Square Park, creating New York City’s first free Black community.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.