The man who killed former University of Mississippi student Jimmie “Jay” Lee will spend 40 years in prison.

Sheldon “Timothy” Herrington Jr. was handed his sentence on Tuesday in the Lafayette County Courthouse. Herrington, on Monday, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and tampering with evidence before a full retrial could be carried out. The guilty plea came hours after jurors were selected in Madison County and set to be transported to Lafayette County for his second trial.

Herrington was given 40 years with 10 suspended for the murder charge. He had an additional 10 years tacked onto his sentence for the tampering with evidence charge, leaving him to spend four decades behind bars.

Lee went missing on July 8, 2022, and weeks into his disappearance, Herrington was arrested and ch

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