New details are emerging about a Kentucky sheriff charged with murder after he allegedly shot a judge inside of the courthouse on Thursday.
Kentucky State Police received a report of shots fired inside the Letcher County Courthouse in Whitesburg at around 2:55 p.m., Trooper Matt Gayheart said on Facebook. Officials found 54-year-old District Judge Kevin Mullins with multiple gunshot wounds. Lifesaving measures were unsuccessful and Mullins was pronounced dead at the scene.
State police said their preliminary investigation found that 43-year-old Letcher County Sheriff Shawn "Mickey" Stines fatally shot Mullins during an argument inside the courthouse. Stines was taken into custody and charged with one count of first-degree murder.
Stines was first elected as sheriff in 2018, then re-elected in 2022. Prior to that, he was a bailiff at the Letcher County District Court.
He was named along with Deputy Ben Fields as defendants in a lawsuit in 2022. Sabrina Adkins alleged that Fields forced her to engage in unwanted sexual acts in Mullins' chamber, according to the Courier-Journal. Stines was also included in the suit because Adkins alleged he failed to train Fields properly.
The lawsuit did not indicate that Mullins was aware of the alleged incident.
Fields was fired shortly after the lawsuit was filed.
Mullins was a judge in the 47th Judicial District. He was first appointed in 2009 by former Governor Steve Beshear. He was elected to the position the following year.
Mullins previously worked as an assistant commonwealth's attorney.
The courthouse announced it will be closed on Friday on its website.
"Due to events in the Letcher County Courthouse on Sept. 19, 2024, Circuit and District courts and the Office of Circuit Court Clerk are closed until court operations can be resumed," the notice read. "Letcher County is not accepting any court filings – conventional or electronic – at this time per Supreme Court Administrative Order 2024-32. Please monitor the Kentucky Court of Justice website for updates."
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear commented on the incident on X.
"Sadly, I have been informed that a district judge in Letcher County was shot and killed in his chambers this afternoon. There is far too much violence in this world, and I pray there is a path to a better tomorrow," Beshear said.
Kentucky State Police is continuing to investigate the incident.
Whitesburg has a population of just over 1,700. The city is located in eastern Kentucky near the Virginia border.