A Kentucky sheriff is accused of killing a judge in a courtroom

Concerning the fatal shooting of a county judge in his chambers on Thursday afternoon, a Kentucky sheriff is charged with murder.

District Judge Kevin Mullins, 54, was shot by Letcher County Sheriff Shawn M. Stines, 43, on Thursday afternoon, according to the authorities, during an altercation inside the Letcher County Courthouse in Whitesburg, Kentucky.

Here are some details on the shooting.

What took place when the gunshots were fired?

Just before 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, a 911 call of gunshots inside the courthouse prompted the dispatch of police.

Officers found Mullins with “multiple gunshot wounds,” a spokesman for the Kentucky State Police said, Matt Gayheart. At the scene, he was declared deceased.

According to Gayheart, Stines was apprehended without any problems and is currently accused with one count of murder.

Gayheart claims that Mullins was shot after a fight. In order to look into the shooting, Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman announced that his office will work with Jackie Steele, the Commonwealth’s Attorney for the 27th Judicial Circuit.

In a post on X on Thursday, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear announced that a judge had been shot and murdered.

“There is far too much violence in this world, and I pray there is a path to a better tomorrow,” Beshear stated.

Who is Kevin Mullins?

The Mountain Eagle reports that in 2009, former Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear selected Mullins as a district judge for the 47th Judicial District. Before this, he worked in Letcher County as an associate commonwealth’s attorney since 2001, as reported by the USA TODAY Network’s Louisville Courier Journal.

Mullins was in favor of initiatives that sent drug-abusing individuals to treatment facilities rather than locking them up.

According to Mark O’Brien, a local site supervisor for the program, Mullins pushed to expand The Hub, a local addiction rehabilitation program, to provide persons involved in the criminal justice system another option.

According to O’Brien, Mullins assisted him during his own recuperation. Mullins “always supported recovery in a community that has been hit hard with the opioid epidemic,” according to a Facebook post by O’Brien.

On Facebook, Letcher County Commonwealth’s Attorney Matt Butler wrote, “Our community has suffered an act of violence that appears to be between two men that I have worked with for seventeen years and loved like brothers.”

He noted that Mullins’s death had meant the loss of their cherished “unkie” to his two oldest children. “This will be the hardest day of their lives for many people, including my own children, and I’m asking for your respect and love for these children,” he wrote in the letter.

In a Facebook posting, Chief Justice Laurance VanMeter of Letcher County said, “I am shocked by this act of violence, and the news shakes the court system.”

“My prayers are with his family and the Letcher County community as they try to process and mourn this tragic loss,” he said.

According to the Courier Journal, Mullins attended the Louis D. Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville after receiving his bachelor’s degree from the University of Kentucky.

Gayheart claims he is from Jackhorn, Kentucky.

Who is Sheriff Shawn M. Stines?

In 2018, Stines, who goes by “Mickey,” was chosen to serve as the county’s sheriff. The Mountain Eagle claims that he had previously worked as a bailiff at the Letcher County District Court.

According to the Courier Journal, Stines was scheduled to provide a deposition on Monday concerning a case from 2022. A former deputy sheriff was charged in the complaint of providing a lady with “favorable treatment.”

The lawsuit was filed by a lady from Kentucky who said she couldn’t afford house detention and that former Deputy Sheriff Ben Fields forced her into having sex with Mullins in his chambers. Fields allegedly requested the lady to meet him in the courthouse after dark and took off her ankle monitor, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit omitted any mention of Mullins knowing that the alleged mistreatment took place in his rooms.

Stines, a defendant in the case, was charged with failing to “reasonably respond” to accusations of the alleged abuse and “failing to properly train” Fields. Fields was later dismissed by him for “conduct unbecoming,” according to the Courier Journal.

According to The Mountain Eagle, Stines was sued in 2019 by another deputy sheriff who said he had retaliated against her for having opposed him during an election campaign.

Gayheart claims that Stines is a native of McRoberts, Kentucky.

Is the courthouse closed?

The circuit court clerk’s office, district court, and circuit court of Letcher County shuttered on Thursday “until court operations can be resumed,” a Facebook post stated. According to the article, Letcher County is not taking court filings.

Following the incident, a nearby college and secondary school were placed under lockdown on Thursday. Letcher County Central High School, which is about three miles from the courthouse, said that the Kentucky State Police had called and instructed a lockdown. In reaction to the incident, Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College declared a lockdown and postponed all events on campus.

Where is Whitesburg?

With a population of about 1,700, Whitesburg serves as Letcher County’s county seat. About 220 miles southeast of Louisville is this location. Letcher County is located close to the Virginia border in southeast Kentucky.

Source: USA Today

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