6. Campus Crime

 

    College is supposed to be a place where we learn, grow, and figure out who we want to become, not a place where we’re constantly looking over our shoulder. But the reality is that crimes on college campuses happen more often than many students realize. From theft and harassment to more serious incidents, campus safety is something we all hear about but don’t always talk enough about. Here are a couple of crimes that have happened somewhere on a college campus.

18 Shocking College Crimes, from the Idaho Murders to a Dorm Room Beating

   In February 2024, Campbellsville University freshman wrestler Josiah Malachi Kilman, age 18, was found unresponsive in his dorm room and later pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. Authorities determined he died from manual strangulation. An arrest warrant was issued the same day for 21-year-old Charles E. Escalera, another student and member of the university’s wrestling team. Escalera was later found hiding on a farm in Green County and taken into custody. As of May 2024, he faces multiple charges, including murder, two counts of burglary, and evading police, and has pleaded not guilty. No trial date has been set, but if convicted of murder, Escalera could receive life in prison or the death penalty under Kentucky law.

   In August 2022, University of West Georgia professor Richard Sigman was charged with the murder of Anna Jones, an 18-year-old incoming freshman. According to the Carrollton Police Department, Sigman was removed from a local restaurant, Leopoldo’s, after threatening another person during an argument. Investigators say he then went to a nearby parking deck and opened fire on a parked car, fatally shooting Jones. In October 2023, Sigman pleaded guilty to malice murder, three counts of aggravated assault, and three counts of firearm possession. He was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.

    

   Jay Lee, a 20-year-old University of Mississippi student, went missing on July 8, 2022. Two weeks later, fellow student Sheldon Timothy Herrington Jr., then 22, was arrested and charged after prosecutors alleged he killed Lee to conceal a relationship between them. Herrington denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty. In November 2024, a judge declared Lee legally dead, and Herrington’s trial began, but the jury deadlocked, reportedly because Lee’s body had not been found. That changed in February 2025, when Lee’s remains were discovered in a Carroll County dumping site along with a gold necklace that spelled “Jaylee.” Following this discovery, Herrington was indicted by a grand jury and is now set to face a retrial for capital murder and tampering with evidence.

   These cases are a reminder that danger can exist even in places meant to feel safe. College students shouldn’t have to fear for their lives while trying to get an education. As a community, we have to do better, by staying informed, staying alert, and supporting efforts to make campuses safer for everyone.