Pgh Lesbian Correspondents

The Crime

Jay Lee also styled as Jaylee went missing on Friday 8th July, 2022 from Lafayette County, Mississippi. There was a suspect who went to trial even though Jay’s body was not found until early February 2025 in  in Carroll County. The legal proceedings in 2022 ended in mistrial. Upon the recent discovery of Jay’s body, the suspect has once again been charged.

What tortuous series of events for Jay Lee’s family and friends.

Honoring Jay

Jay identified as a Black gay man and dressed in femme clothing and hair styles. Thus we consider Jay to be gender nonconforming (GNC) under the trans umbrella. We will use he/him pronouns as is consistent with Jay’s own choices. Jay’s friends and advocates confirm that GNC is appropriate.

Jay was born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi. In 2019, he moved to Oxford, Mississippi to study social work at the University of Mississippi. Jay graduated in May 2022 with High Honors and planned to attend graduate school.

Jay was a musical artist who recorded original compositions. He was a fan of Arianna Grande, Beyonce, and Rihannna. Jay performed for local LGBTQ+ events. Jay Lee was always accompanied by their dog, Lexi.

Jay’s favorite color was gold. According to family, he was known for always including a hint of gold in each outfit.

Jay Lee had so many loving friends who have pushed for justice, showing up at court and for the family. They set up an Instagram account @JusticeForJaylee to honor and celebrate their friend, but also to push for accountability. They are organized and determined.

Jay was declared legally dead in 2024 at would have been the age of 22. Jay was 20 when they went missing in 2022. Their family held a public memorial service in mid-February 2025.

Many of you will ask – what about Jay’s beloved dog Lexi? His decision to leave her in his apartment on the day of his murder was noted by his friends as completely our of character. Lexi is now living with Jay’s family.

The Context

His remains were found by hunters near a patch known as a dumping ground for old tires and other unwanted items. It seems to me that would be a place to search for a missing college student before now, but we have a surge of unwitting people stumbling across the human remains of our loved neighbors.

After news first broke that hunters had found skeletal remains in Carroll County on Monday, Mississippi Today’s Molly Minta was the first to report that investigators believed the remains belonged to Lee. She reported that the remains included a gold necklace that formed the name “Jaylee,” like one that appeared in several of the missing UM graduate’s Instagram photos.

Investigators announced on Wednesday that DNA evidence confirmed the remains belonged to the missing UM student, who has long been presumed deceased.

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The hunters found Lee only one day before the end of an extended hunting season in the Delta Management Units.

It feels so redundant to once again reference Missing White Girl Syndrome as at least a partial explanation as to why it has taken so long. The timing – one day before the season ended – is almost eerie, suggesting that another entire year could have passed without finding Jay. How is that acceptable? Why aren’t hunters recruited to search areas they know are abandoned in the first place? If my loved one went missing – now that I know this – I would plead with hunters to check their hunting grounds no matter the season. It is not a heavy lift.

In 2022, we reported on the deaths of 40 trans neighbors. Jay Lee will be number 41. He is the 33rd person of color from these neighbors respectively. To date the 2022 victims include 21 Black trans women, 5 Latinx trans women, 2 AAIPI trans women, 1 Native/Indigenous person, 2 white trans women, 3 Black trans man, 3 white trans men and 1 Black Gender Nonconforming Gay Man. The youngest was 15, the oldest was 50. Thirteen were 25 or younger, including Jay.

More Context

I spoke with a friend of Jay Lee who said this about the use of GNC “we think it’s important to mention because a lot of this case surrounds not only gay issues, but trans issues too: the defense attempts to accuse jay lee of dressing femininely or pretending to be a woman to deceive men.”

This is described often as trans panic or gay panic defenses. They are disgusting, implying that LGBTQ+ folx, especially trans folx, are inherently deceitful about our identities. Here we are fighting for the right to safely move through this world as ourselves, visible and transparent. We do not live small lives. Nor should we have to do so.

To their tremendous credit, Jay’s friends and family have walked through a horrid situation and found a way to push for change, to protect other trans and queer folx. In addition to the panic defenses, they express concerns about the legal discrimination against LGBTQ+ people such as MS H.B. 1523, the so-called Religious Liberty Accommodations Act. “Mississippi has no hate crime laws for queer or trans people and very few cities have recently started to pass city ordinances to give lgbtqia special protections and to establish hate crime laws.”

These are friends and family who are honoring their beloved Jay Lee by educating themselves on how systems do and could work to protect people. And putting in the time and effort to monitor the trial and advocate for change.

this is what jay lee was passionate about – lgbtqia equality and liberty in the south. our shared desire to make change in mississippi and to nurture our southern queer community is part of how him and i became good friends. since jay lee has went missing, i can definitely say that i’ve learned a lot about trans people, the intersection of being black + queer and what disproportion looks like for gay people in the south

Rest in power, Jay Lee. Your beautiful, joyful, and kind legacy will light the way for future generations. You should be here to advocate for change and create new paths forward. But you will never be forgotten. You made this world better even when it treated you poorly.

May your memory be a revolution.

note: i have kept confidential the identities of those who spoke with me because they have already experienced harassment and retaliation for the crime of searching for their dead friend.

Deaths reported in 2025

1. Tahiry ‘Tokyo’ Broom – February 9, 2025. Detroit, Michigan. Age 29.
2. Sam Nordquist – February 2025. Canandaigua, New York. Age 24.
3. Amyri Dior – February 21, 2025. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Age 23.
4. Ervianna ‘Baydee’ Johnsonn – February 19, 2025. Tabor City, North Carolina. Age 25.

Other deaths I’ve reported during 2025

• Elisa Rae Shupe – January 27, 2025. Syracuse, New York. Age 61.
• Chilendrina Gracia Dominguez – January 18, 2021. Reported February 2025. Albuquerque, New Mexico. Age 42.
• Amira O’Neill – July 6, 2023. Ann Arbor, Michigan. Age 44.
• Jay Lee – July 8, 2022. Oxford, Mississippi. Age 20.