A Lafayette County judge dismissed the tampering with evidence charge Friday against Timothy Herrington Jr., the man accused of killing Ole Miss student Jimmie “Jay” Lee.

Herrington was indicted on the new charge on Feb. 7, along with being indicted a second time for capital murder. Prosecutors allege that Herrington unlawfully destroyed, concealed, or removed Lee’s body, which was found in January buried in Carroll County—two and a half years after Lee’s disappearance on July 8, 2022.

His attorney, Aafram Y. Sellers, filed a motion to dismiss on Feb. 27, claiming the charge was outside the two-year statute of limitation.

Judge Kelly Luther ruled in favor of Herrington on Friday after reviewing the motion, arguments and the state statute that the prosecution for the tampering charge is outside of the statute of limitations and is, therefore, time-barred.

“The plain language of the statute directs that prosecution must have commenced within two years,” Luther wrote in the order filed Friday. “The Court is aware of no applicable authority to extend the statute of limitations …”

Herrington was initially arrested in July 2022 and charged with Lee’s murder, but a trial held in December 2024 ended in a mistrial after jurors failed to reach a unanimous verdict, voting 11-1 for conviction.

A new trial date has not yet been scheduled.