A former Kentucky sheriff was indicted this week in connection to the fatal shooting of a judge earlier this year.
Who Is the Former Sheriff?
Shawn “Mickey” Stines, the former sheriff of Letcher County, Kentucky, was indicted on a charge of murdering a public official, prosecutors announced. Authorities allege that on September 19, Stines entered District Judge Kevin Mullins’ chambers in Whitesburg, Kentucky, engaged in a brief conversation with the judge and then opened fire.
Judge Kevin Mullins, 54, who had served on the bench for 15 years, was pronounced dead at the scene. Stines surrendered without resistance and has since pleaded not guilty to the murder charge. He remains in custody at a jail in another Kentucky county.
Stines, 43, resigned as sheriff just over a week after the shooting. Billy Jones, a former high school resource officer in Letcher County, was sworn in as his replacement on October 1.
Prosecutors declined to comment Thursday after the Letcher County grand jury returned the indictment. Stines’ attorneys did not immediately respond to requests for comment via phone or email.
AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley/AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley
The Shooting
Authorities have not disclosed a motive for the shooting, which involved two prominent figures from the southeastern Kentucky county bordering Virginia. Whitesburg is located 146 miles southeast of Lexington.
Last month, a courtroom watched video footage of the judge’s killing during a court hearing. The video, which lacked audio, showed a man identified by police as Stines drawing a gun and shooting the judge as he sat at his desk. The man then walked around the desk, aimed at the judge—who had collapsed to the floor—and fired again. Several people in the gallery sobbed as the footage played.
Judge Mullins succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds, a Kentucky State Police detective testified during the hearing.
According to testimony from a Kentucky State Police detective, Stines attempted to call his daughter using both his and Mullins’ phones shortly before the shooting. Investigators did not find a weapon on Mullins or in his chambers, the detective added.
On the day of the shooting, Mullins and Stines had lunch together at a restaurant near the courthouse while joined by several others, a Kentucky State Police detective testified during the hearing.
Stines’ defense team stated that the hearing raised more questions than it answered and revealed that they are conducting a “parallel investigation” into the case.
Stines could face the death penalty if convicted on the murder charge.
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.
