The Secret That Took Jay Lee

In the early hours of July 8, 2022, University of Mississippi student Jimmie “Jay” Lee walked out of his apartment after receiving a message from someone he once trusted.

He never came home.

In this episode of Cigar & A Crime, Dr. Dee brings you inside the Lounge of Truth to honor Jay Lee, a 20-year-old social work major, performer, activist, and unapologetically proud young man whose light shined brightly in a place that still struggles with acceptance.

We trace Jay’s life before the headlines, his love for community, his faith-rooted family, his role as a safe space for other LGBTQ students, and then walk step by step through the investigation that followed his disappearance. From digital evidence and surveillance footage to a rare no-body prosecution, this case exposes how secrecy, fear, and silence can turn deadly.

This episode also confronts a larger truth: how members of the LGBTQ community often suffer in silence, how justice is delayed when voices are ignored, and why no story deserves to be buried-no- matter who the victim loved or how they lived.

Jay Lee’s name matters. His life mattered. And at Cigar & A Crime, no one gets left out.

Because in the Lounge of Truth…
The smoke never lies.

🔎 Listener Discretion Advised: This episode discusses violence and themes that may be distressing.

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