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A Kentucky sheriff, Mickey Stines, 44, fatally shot District Judge Kevin Mullins, 54, in his office following a brief argument, according to an updated police report.
Video footage reveals the two exchanged phones moments before the shooting, though the motive remains unclear, according to The Mountain Eagle. Sheriff Stines entered the courtroom and requested a private conversation with Judge Mullins. Stines reportedly locked the door after a brief exchange in the judge’s office, and both men exchanged cell phones.
Stines allegedly drew his weapon, walked around the desk, and repeatedly shot Judge Mullins as he collapsed. The two had reportedly had lunch with other court employees just hours earlier.
“We know that it was an argument between the two that led up, but what exactly transpired prior to the shots being fired, that’s still things that we’re trying to get answers to,” said Kentucky State Police Trooper Matt Gayheart.
NEW: The Kentucky sheriff who shot a local judge in his chambers, had exchanged cell phones just moments before taking the judge’s life.
According to the Mountain Eagle, District Judge Kevin Mullins and Sheriff Mickey Stines exchanged phones.
When Stines was apparently unhappy… pic.twitter.com/Cxh4gFx7BM
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) September 21, 2024
Stines, a father of two nearing retirement, has been charged with first-degree murder. He previously served as Judge Mullins’ bailiff before becoming sheriff in 2018. Stines had also faced a lawsuit for allegedly failing to investigate claims of a deputy’s sexual assault in Mullins’ chambers with a former female inmate, Sabrina Adkins.
According to a 2022 federal lawsuit, Deputy Ben Fields coerced Adkins into performing sexual favors to avoid returning to Letcher County Jail after she couldn’t afford an ankle monitor for home incarceration.
Sheriff Stines, a defendant in the case, was set to give a deposition just four days before allegedly killing Judge Mullins. In 2002, Stines fired Deputy Fields, who is now serving seven years for recording the former inmate.
The shooting shocked the close-knit Appalachian town of 1,700 residents, located 145 miles southeast of Lexington. County prosecutor Matt Butler recused himself from the investigation, citing personal ties to Mullins.
The Kentucky sheriff who allegedly shot and killed a judge in his chambers was embroiled in a sexual abuse scandal involving one of his deputies. A lawsuit accuses the deputy of repeatedly sexually abusing a woman in the judge’s chambers. pic.twitter.com/vKLmctnu1M
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) September 20, 2024
BREAKING: Judge shot, killed in his chambers; sheriff arrested
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