Investigators are trying to determine why a Kentucky sheriff allegedly shot and killed a district judge after they argued inside the judge’s chambers, according to Kentucky State Police.
District Judge Kevin Mullins, 54, was found around 3 p.m. Thursday with gunshot wounds and pronounced dead at the Letcher County courthouse in Whitesburg, Kentucky State Police Trooper Matt Gayheart said at a Thursday evening news conference.
Letcher County Sheriff Shawn M. Stines, 43, — whose role made him responsible for judges’ personal security — shot Mullins after an argument inside the judge’s chambers, a preliminary police investigation revealed. Stines is now facing a first-degree murder charge, state police said. CNN is trying to determine whether Stines has an attorney.
Stines turned himself in after the shooting and was arrested at the scene without incident on Thursday, authorities said. He is cooperating with authorities, Gayheart said. It is unclear who will take over as the county sheriff following the arrest of Stines, who had been sheriff for about eight years.
There are cameras inside the building and all witnesses will be interviewed, he said.
“This community is small in nature, and we’re all shook,” Gayheart said.
The killing came less than two weeks after southeast Kentucky was rocked by a shooting at an interstate that wounded five people in Laurel County. And just three days ago, a Russell County deputy was killed in the line of duty, officials said.
“There is far too much violence in this world, and I pray there is a path to a better tomorrow,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said in a social media post.
While other people were in the building when Mullins was shot, no one else was inside the judge’s chambers and no other injuries were reported. There’s no threat to the public, Gayheart added.
Law enforcement has yet to release details about the argument that led up to the shots, and the motive remains under investigation, Gayheart said, adding the incident was “isolated.”
The first court appearance for Stines is scheduled for September 25 before a judge in Carter County, about 100 miles away from the crime scene, said Jackie Steele, the Commonwealth’s Attorney assigned to the case. Stines will appear at the hearing remotely, Steele said.
Stines is being jailed in Leslie County, more than 40 miles from the Letcher County Courthouse. It was not clear Friday if Stines will remain in Leslie County or be transferred elsewhere before his hearing, Steele told CNN.
In Kentucky, sheriffs are responsible for security at courthouses – including the personal security of judges – according to Jerry Wagner, a retired sheriff who is now the executive director of the Kentucky Sheriff’s Association.
“We have 120 sheriffs that work on a daily basis with our judges. We work more closely with them than any other elected officials,” Wagner told CNN Friday.
“No one saw this coming,” Wagner added. “I don’t know how you prepare for this.”
Here’s what we know about the two men, the killing and the investigation so far.
What we know about Mullins and Stines
Mullins, a resident of Jackhorn, served as a district judge for Kentucky’s 47th District Court in Letcher County since being appointed in 2009 by former Gov. Steve Beshear, the current executive’s father, according to The Associated Press. He was elected a year later, then re-elected in 2014, 2018 and again in 2022.
Before his judicial appointment, Mullins served as assistant commonwealth’s attorney in Letcher County and primarily focused on drug-related offenses, according to CNN affiliate WKYT. He was admitted to the bar in 1995.
Mullins was known for promoting substance abuse treatment for people involved in the justice system and helped hundreds of residents enter inpatient residential treatment, citing a program for a drug summit he spoke at in 2022, The Associated Press reported.
He also helped develop a program offering peer support services in the courthouse for addiction treatment and worked with various health care providers, the AP said.
Mullins also served as a founding member of the Responsive Effort to Support Treatment in Opioid Recovery Efforts Leadership Team.
Earlier this month, the sheriff highlighted the agency’s work, including recent drug busts.
“Thank you to the awesome citizens of Letcher County, for allowing us to serve you and providing us with information to help catch fugitives and assisting us with getting drugs off our streets,” Stines wrote in a Facebook post on September 4.
An argument inside the judge’s chambers
An investigation into how the fatal shooting unfolded – and what the argument between the two men was about – is underway, state police said Thursday.
“We know that it was an argument between the two that led up – but what exactly transpired prior to the shots being fired, those are still things that we’re trying to get answers to,” Gayheart said.
Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman indicated Thursday his office will work with Steele as special prosecutors on the case.
“We will fully investigate and pursue justice,” Coleman said.
Mullins’ body will be sent to the medical examiner’s office at the state capital in Frankfort, according to Gayheart.
Sheriff faced lawsuit before shooting
Stines was deposed earlier this week in an ongoing federal lawsuit involving a former deputy who coerced a woman to have sex with him in Mullins’ chambers in 2021.
Sabrina Adkins and Jennifer Hill filed suit against Stines and deputy Ben Fields in 2022, claiming the deputy said he would keep Adkins out of jail and on home release, while avoiding paying the fees associated with an ankle monitor, in exchange for sex.
According to the complaint, when Adkins told Fields, her home incarceration officer, she was having difficulty finding a place to live and could not afford an ankle monitor, the deputy “made flirtatious comments about Sabrina’s looks and body and told her that he was confident that they could ‘work something out.’”
Adkins alleged the deputy met her “after dark” in the chambers of Judge Mullins, “telling Sabrina that he wanted to meet her there because there were no cameras,” the lawsuit says. Fields was accused of meeting with Adkins at the courthouse during evening or early morning hours roughly a half-dozen times, including for sex, in Mullins’ chambers over a seven-month period.
Hill, the second plaintiff, accused Fields of falsely claiming she was not meeting the terms of her home confinement after she refused to do a “favor” for him, which she interpreted as a request for sex. The lawsuit says after Hill was later arrested, Fields harassed her at home and explicitly demanded oral sex, and later sexual intercourse in his sheriff’s office vehicle, in exchange for staying out of jail.
Fields was charged with multiple felonies and a misdemeanor – including rape and tampering with a monitoring device – and was given a suspended jail sentence as part of a plea deal earlier this year, according to the Mountain Eagle newspaper.
“My nightmares got so bad I had to go on medicine and probably will be for the rest of my life,” Adkins said at the January sentencing, the Mountain Eagle reported, adding she continued to receive counseling for trauma.
Hill has since died and criminal charges against Fields related to her were dropped, but her estate is continuing to pursue the lawsuit against Field and Stines, court records show.
The lawsuit alleges the sexual allegations against Fields “were not appropriately investigated by Sheriff Stines.”
Stines fired Fields in 2022, after the lawsuit was filed, for “conduct unbecoming,” according to a disciplinary letter obtained by the Louisville Courier-Journal newspaper.
In a response filed to the lawsuit, defense attorneys wrote “Mickey Stines, at all times acted in good faith and exercised reasonable care and skill in effectuating his duties as required by law.” Defendants also argued the case should be dismissed because of the statute of limitations and sovereign immunity.
Stines was deposed in the case on Monday, plaintiffs’ and defendants’ attorneys both confirmed to CNN. They did not reveal any details of his testimony.
Jonathan Shaw, the attorney representing Stines in his official capacity in the lawsuit, told CNN in an email he did not have the authority to speak on Stines’ personal behalf in the federal suit or the murder case.
“This is a sad day for our legal community, and I hope that in time we will have a clearer understanding of the circumstances that led to Judge Mullins’ death,” Shaw said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the judge’s family and the families of all involved.”
Killing shakes small Kentucky community
Kentucky Supreme Court Chief Justice Laurance B. VanMeter was “shocked” by Mullins’ killing and the court was left “shaken,” he said in a statement.
“My prayers are with his family and the Letcher County community as they try to process and mourn this tragic loss,” VanMeter said.
Matt Butler, commonwealth’s attorney for Letcher County, recused himself from the sheriff’s prosecution because his wife is the sister of Mullins’ wife, Butler said in a statement Thursday evening.
He described the sheriff and the judge as “two men that I have worked with for seventeen years and loved like brothers.”
“We all know each other here. For example, anyone from Letcher County would tell you that Judge Mullins and I married a pair of sisters and that we have children who are first cousins but act like siblings,” Butler said.
“Please pray for Judge Mullins’ family and my children. Ian and Ivy have cried and cried and begged to see their uncle,” he added. “My community is completely devastated.”
As a result of the shooting, circuit and district courts, as well as the office of the circuit court clerk, will be closed until operations can resume, the Kentucky Administrative Office of the Courts said Thursday. Once the courts reopen, a retired judge will temporarily take over district court cases until a Judicial Nominating Commission selects Mullins’ replacement, spokesperson Jim Hannah told CNN Friday.
Letcher County schools and the Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College were also placed on a brief lockdown after the shooting, according to The Associated Press.
CNN’s Jamiel Lynch contributed to this report.
Correction: A previous version of this story mischaracterized Mullins’ role with Addiction Recovery Care and has been updated.