Campus cameras showed a student leaving his Ole Miss apartment the day he disappeared

News

Campus cameras showed a student leaving his Ole Miss apartment the day he disappeared

2024-12-05 06:17 Last Updated At：06:21

Security cameras captured video of a University of Mississippi student leaving his campus apartment twice on the morning he was last seen alive, University Police Department Capt. Jane Mahan testified Wednesday in the trial of the man accused of killing the student.

Jimmy “Jay” Lee, 20, was a gay man well known in the LGBTQ+ community at Ole Miss and in Oxford, where the university is located. He vanished July 8, 2022.

Click to Gallery

CORRECTS NAME TO CAPT. JANE MAHAN - The University of Mississippi Police Department Capt. Jane Mahan testifies during the capital murder trial of Sheldon Timothy Herrington Jr., who is charged with the 2022 death of University of Mississippi student Jimmie "Jay" Lee, on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in Oxford, Miss. (Antonella Rescigno/The Daily Mississippian, via AP, Pool)

Defense attorneys and prosecutors approach Judge Kelly Luther who presides over the capital murder trial of Sheldon Timothy Herrington Jr., who is charged with the 2022 death of University of Mississippi student Jimmie "Jay" Lee, in Oxford, Miss., on Wednesday, Dec 4, 2024. (Antonella Rescigno/The Daily Mississippian, via AP, Pool)

Witness Kizziah Carter watches exhibit evidence of traffic footage showing his car at a gas station by Molly Bar in Oxford, Miss., during the capital murder trial of Sheldon Timothy Herrington Jr., who is charged with the 2022 death of University of Mississippi student Jimmie "Jay" Lee, on Wednesday, Dec 4, 2024. (Antonella Rescigno/The Daily Mississippian, via AP, Pool)

Sheldon Timothy Herrington Jr., who is charged with the 2022 death of University of Mississippi student Jimmie "Jay" Lee, reviews police exhibit photos of Lee's apartment building staircase during his capital murder trial on Wednesday, Dec 4, 2024, in Oxford, Miss. (Antonella Rescigno/The Daily Mississippian, via AP, Pool)

Sheldon Timothy Herrington Jr., who is on trial on a capital murder charge in the 2022 death of University of Mississippi student Jimmie "Jay" Lee, looks out into the courtroom during the lunch break, in Oxford, Miss., Wednesday, Dec 4, 2024. (Antonella Rescigno/The Daily Mississippian via AP, Pool)

More Images

CORRECTS NAME TO CAPT. JANE MAHAN - The University of Mississippi Police Department Capt. Jane Mahan testifies during the capital murder trial of Sheldon Timothy Herrington Jr., who is charged with the 2022 death of University of Mississippi student Jimmie "Jay" Lee, on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in Oxford, Miss. (Antonella Rescigno/The Daily Mississippian, via AP, Pool)

Defense attorneys and prosecutors approach Judge Kelly Luther who presides over the capital murder trial of Sheldon Timothy Herrington Jr., who is charged with the 2022 death of University of Mississippi student Jimmie "Jay" Lee, in Oxford, Miss., on Wednesday, Dec 4, 2024. (Antonella Rescigno/The Daily Mississippian, via AP, Pool)

Witness Kizziah Carter watches exhibit evidence of traffic footage showing his car at a gas station by Molly Bar in Oxford, Miss., during the capital murder trial of Sheldon Timothy Herrington Jr., who is charged with the 2022 death of University of Mississippi student Jimmie "Jay" Lee, on Wednesday, Dec 4, 2024. (Antonella Rescigno/The Daily Mississippian, via AP, Pool)

Sheldon Timothy Herrington Jr., who is charged with the 2022 death of University of Mississippi student Jimmie "Jay" Lee, reviews police exhibit photos of Lee's apartment building staircase during his capital murder trial on Wednesday, Dec 4, 2024, in Oxford, Miss. (Antonella Rescigno/The Daily Mississippian, via AP, Pool)

Sheldon Timothy Herrington Jr., who is on trial on a capital murder charge in the 2022 death of University of Mississippi student Jimmie "Jay" Lee, looks out into the courtroom during the lunch break, in Oxford, Miss., Wednesday, Dec 4, 2024. (Antonella Rescigno/The Daily Mississippian via AP, Pool)

Sheldon “Timothy” Herrington Jr., 24, of Grenada, Mississippi, is charged with capital murder in Lee's death, and his trial began Tuesday in Oxford. Herrington has maintained his innocence.

Police said cellphone history showed conversations between Herrington and Lee on the morning Lee disappeared.

Jurors on Wednesday were shown video clips of Lee leaving his own apartment shortly after 4 a.m., wearing a robe and slippers. The clips showed him returning about 40 minutes later and leaving again just before 6 a.m. When he left the last time, he was looking at his cellphone.

A friend of Lee, Khalid Fears, testified Tuesday that he had a video chat with Lee while Lee left the apartment around 6 a.m. that day. Lee said he was going back to see a man he had seen hours earlier, Fears testified.

Mahan testified Wednesday about the timeline of the video clips showing Lee at the campus apartment. She said campus police started searching for Lee after his mother, Stephanie Lee, called later that day to request a welfare check on her son after he didn't respond to multiple messages.

Jay Lee's apartment had an electronic key card, and Mahan testified that police contacted the campus housing department to put an alert on his card, which would automatically send police an email if the card were used.

An assistant district attorney, Gwen Agho, asked Mahan if Lee ever returned to his apartment after he was recorded leaving that morning.

“Not that I've ever been notified of, no,” Mahan said.

Lee and Herrington saw each other twice during the hours before Lee disappeared, Agho said during opening arguments Tuesday. She said the men had sexual contact during their first meeting, and Lee was upset when he left Herrington’s apartment.

Herrington invited Lee back — and before Lee arrived, Herrington searched online for how long it takes to strangle someone, Agho said. Herrington “was not openly in the LGBTQ community,” she said.

A witness, Kizziah Carter, testified Wednesday that he was driving home from work at about 7:30 that morning and saw Herrington jogging along a road in Oxford. Carter said he knew Herrington and honked to greet him, and Carter flagged him down to ask for a ride. The road was near an apartment complex where Lee's car was found later in the day. Carter said he drove Herrington to Herrington's apartment in another complex.

Surveillance video also recorded Herrington running from where Lee’s car was found, and he was later seen picking up a shovel and wheelbarrow at his parents’ house, authorities said.

Lee’s body has not been found. In October, a judge declared him dead at the request of Lee’s parents. Lee’s active presence on social media fell silent after July 8, 2022, and no transactions have appeared on his credit card since then, prosecutors said.

Herrington was arrested two weeks after Lee vanished, then released five months later on a $250,000 bond. A grand jury indicted him in March 2023.

Herrington’s attorney, Kevin Horan, told jurors Tuesday that prosecutors have “zero” proof that Lee was killed or that any crime happened.

Both Herrington and Lee had graduated from the University of Mississippi. Lee was pursuing a master’s degree. He was known for his creative expression through fashion and makeup and often performed in drag shows in Oxford, according to a support group called Justice for Jay Lee.

Prosecutors have announced they do not intend to pursue the death penalty, meaning Herrington could get a life sentence if convicted. Mississippi law defines capital murder as a killing committed along with another felony — in this case, kidnapping.

Police hunt for UnitedHealthcare CEO's masked killer after 'brazen, targeted' attack on NYC street

2024-12-05 06:18 Last Updated At：06:20

NEW YORK (AP) — A gunman killed UnitedHealthcare’s CEO on Wednesday in a “brazen, targeted attack” outside a Manhattan hotel where the health insurer was holding its investor conference, police said, setting off a massive search for the fleeing assailant hours before the annual Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting nearby.

Brian Thompson, 50, was shot around 6:45 a.m. as he walked alone to the New York Hilton Midtown from a nearby hotel, police said. The shooter appeared to be “lying in wait for several minutes” before approaching Thompson from behind and opening fire, New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said. Police had not yet established a motive.

“Many people passed the suspect, but he appeared to wait for his intended target,” Tisch said, adding that the shooting "does not appear to be a random act of violence.”

Surveillance video reviewed by investigators shows someone emerging from behind a parked car, pointing a gun at Thompson’s back, then firing multiple times from several feet away. The gunman continues firing, interrupted by a brief gun jam, as Thompson stumbles forward and falls to the sidewalk. He then walks past Thompson and out of the frame.

“From watching the video, it does seem that he’s proficient in the use of firearms as he was able to clear the malfunctions pretty quickly,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said.

Thompson was shot at least once in the back and once in the calf, Tisch said.

The shooter, who wore a jacket, face mask and large backpack, fled through Midtown on foot before pedaling an e-bike into Central Park a few blocks away, police said. The assailant remained at large Wednesday afternoon, sparking a search that included police drones, helicopters and dogs.

“Brian was a highly respected colleague and friend to all who worked with him,” the insurer’s Minnetonka, Minnesota-based parent company, UnitedHealth Group Inc., said in a statement. "We are working closely with the New York Police Department and ask for your patience and understanding during this difficult time.”

Police issued a poster showing a surveillance image of the man pointing what appeared to be a gun and another image that appeared to show the same person on a bicycle. Minutes before the shooting, he stopped at a nearby Starbucks, according to additional surveillance photos released by police on Wednesday afternoon. They offered a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

Thompson’s wife, Paulette Thompson, told NBC News that he told her “there were some people that had been threatening him.” She didn’t have details but suggested the threats may have involved issues with insurance coverage.

Eric Werner, the police chief in the Minneapolis suburb where Thompson lived, said his department had not received any reports of threats against the executive.

The killing shook a part of New York City that's normally quiet at that hour, happening about four blocks from where tens of thousands of people were set to gather for Wednesday night’s tree lighting. Police promised extra security for the event.

The hotel is also a short walk from other tourist sites, including the Museum of Modern Art and Radio City Music Hall, and is often dense with office workers and visitors on weekday mornings. Many security cameras are nearby.

“We’re encouraging New Yorkers to go about their daily lives and their daily business but to be alert,” NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey said.

Investigators recovered several 9 mm shell casings from outside the hotel and a cellphone from the alleyway through which the shooter fled. They were also searching Thompson's hotel room, interviewing his UnitedHealthcare colleagues and reviewing his social media, Kenny said.

Police said the e-bike that the shooter used to ride into Central Park came from the city’s bike-share program, CitiBike. A spokesperson for Lyft, which operates the program, said police had not yet contacted the company.

Health care giant UnitedHealth Group was holding its annual meeting with investors to update Wall Street on the company's direction and expectations for the coming year. The company ended the conference early in the wake of Thompson's death.

“I’m afraid that we — some of you may know we’re dealing with a very serious medical situation with one of our team members,” a company official told attendees, according to a transcript. “And as a result, I’m afraid we’re going to have to bring to a close the event today. ... I’m sure you’ll understand.”

Thompson, a father of two sons, had been with the company since 2004 and served as CEO for more than three years.

UnitedHealthcare is the largest provider of Medicare Advantage plans in the U.S. and manages health insurance coverage for employers and state-and federally funded Medicaid programs.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz posted on the social platform X that the state is “sending our prayers to Brian’s family and the UnitedHealthcare team.”

“This is horrifying news and a terrible loss for the business and health care community in Minnesota,” the Democrat wrote.

Associated Press writers Tom Murphy in Indianapolis, Steve Karnowski in St. Paul, Minnesota, and Anthony Izaguirre in Albany, New York, contributed to this story.