Kentucky judge shooting updates: Officials confirm Stines' location in Leslie County (2024)

Updates from Letcher County courthouse shooting involving Kentucky District Judge Kevin Mullins and Sheriff Mickey Stines that shook Whitesburg community Thursday.

Kentucky State Police continues its investigation after Letcher County District Judge Kevin Mullins was allegedly shot and killed Thursday afternoon by county Sheriff Shawn M. Stines.

Kentucky State Police is investigating after Stines allegedly shot Mullins in his chambers at the Letcher County Courthouse in Whitesburg. Stines turned himself over to law enforcement without incident following the shooting, officials said.

The Courier Journal has journalists in Letcher County. Follow along for updates.

Letcher County courthouse shooting: Ky. judge shooting stuns Letcher County. Who is Sheriff Mickey Stines? Who is Kevin Mullins?

5:30 p.m.: Residents have questions about what happened

Bill and Josephine Richardson have lived in Whitesburg since 1969 when they helped found the famed Appalshop art center.

They’ve witnessed a lot. But they haven’t witnessed a scene like the one that unfolded in the heart of the town Thursday afternoon. Their son, who lives in Somerset, called Josephine minutes after the shooting and warned his parents not to go downtown.

It might not have made much of a difference — the area was packed with police, ambulances and onlookers, according to Laci Wright, who works at nearby Coal City Coffee and watched the scene unfold just after 3 p.m. when she was told the nearby high school was on lockdown.

“Three ambulances drove by, and then you saw fire trucks, and the police cars, cop cars and all that stuff. It backed all the way up (to the end of the street),” she said.

Mullins and Stines have a relationship that goes back years, a connection well-known around town. The Richardsons had met both but were closer with Stines — he was well-liked, Josephine said, and had pushed this year for a petition to allow alcohol sales throughout the county before he planned to retire at the end of his term.

Stines’ motive is still unclear, and an arraignment date has not been announced. The Richardsons are among many in town with questions about what transpired.

“Everyone has different perspectives,” Josephine said.

1:30 p.m.: Leslie County Detention Center confirms Stines' location following arrest

An employee at the Leslie County Detention Center confirmed that Stines is being held at the facility, located about an hour from Letcher County District Court.

1 p.m.: Letcher County's Commonwealth’s Attorney recuses from Stines case

Commonwealth's Attorney for Letcher County Matt Butler posted a video to Facebook Friday morning announcing his office "recused out of the prosecution of Sheriff Mickey Stines related to the death of Kevin Mullins" on Thursday due to personal and professional relationships with the two.

Butler explained he was related to Mullins by marriage, but also had to recuse himself from the case due to professional connections to both Mullins and Stines, as stated by Kentucky mandate.

Butler said a member of his staff was also present in the judicial court suite at the time of the incident and will likely be a witness in the case. The case will be handled jointly by the Kentucky Attorney General's Office and Jackie Steele, Commonwealth's Attorney for Laurel and Knox counties.

“This case is, from the prosecutor’s perspective, is in the finest hands," he said.

12:30 p.m.: 'I think all the attorneys in this case are stunned'

Attorney Bethany Baxter, counsel for a woman who filed a federal lawsuit claiming a former Letcher County deputy sheriff forced her to take part in sexual acts in exchange for favorable treatment, said she was as shocked as anyone when she heard about the shooting.

"I was stunned," the Lexington-based lawyer said Friday in a call with The Courier Journal. "I think all the attorneys in this case are stunned. I don’t have any context about what happened yesterday, so like everybody else, I’m interested to see why this happened and learn more."

Baxter wasn’t in Whitesburg at the time of the shooting and said she did not know the motive, but confirmed Stines was deposed in the ongoing lawsuit Monday for more than four hours. Stines was named as a defendant in the case on allegations he’d failed to properly train and supervise then-Deputy Ben Fields, who pleaded guilty to state charges of third-degree rape, third-degree sodomy, tampering with a prisoner’s monitoring device and second-degree perjury.

Fields spent several months in jail but was recently released, Baxter said. The federal lawsuit is still pending.

Baxter said Stines claimed he wasn’t aware of the allegations in the case until the lawsuit was filed in 2022 during a recent deposition.

Stines served as bailiff in Mullins’ courtroom before being elected sheriff in 2018. Fields replaced him in that position, and Baxter said the abuse of her client occurred in Mullins’ offices.

12:10 p.m.: Kentucky Sheriffs' Association calls incident 'unbelievable tragedy'

Jerry Wagner, executive director of the Kentucky Sheriffs' Association, told The Courier Journal Friday that the courthouse shooting leaving Mullins dead is an "unbelievable tragedy."

"You know, [sheriffs] work with our court system and our judges daily, every day, even through the weekends. ... That's one of our major responsibilities. And sheriffs are the chief law enforcement officers in the counties," Wagner said. "That's our responsibility, is to protect the courts, protect the judges. And I do not know why this happened. I just know that it is a unbelievable tragedy."

9:25 a.m.: Officials release comments in wake of shooting

Lawmakers and community leaders in Letcher County and across the commonwealth continue to react in the wake of the fatal shooting at the Letcher County Courthouse in Whitesburg Thursday.

In a Facebook post released Thursday, officials from the Letcher County Jail offered condolences to both families impacted by the shooting.

"Letcher County Jail would like to offer their Prayers to the wives that are both without their husbands tonight prayers for their children that are without their fathers tonight," officials said. "We as a community need to be there for each other during this time. Please just stop [and] just pray for all that is involved and keep them all in your thoughts and prayers to the days following."

Matt Butler, Commonwealth's Attorney for Letcher County, also asked for the community for prayers and kindness in a social media post Thursday.

"Our community has suffered an act of violence that appears to be between two men that I have worked with for 17 years and loved like brothers," he wrote. "My oldest two children have lost their beloved 'Unkie' and there are children grieving and reading what you say. ... 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."

What are Mickey Stines' charges?

Letcher County Sheriff Mickey Stineshas been arrested and chargedwith first-degree murder in connection with the shooting Thursday at theLetcher CountyCourthouse inWhitesburgofficials from KSP said.

Who is Letcher County Sheriff Mickey Stines?

Stines, 43, is from Neon, Kentucky, and lives in McRoberts, an unincorporated community in Letcher County,according to his Facebook account. According to a2007 article from The Mountain Eagle, Stines was formerly a bailiff for Letcher County District Court before being elected sheriff in 2018.

In a 2022 lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court alleging a Letcher County deputy sheriffoffered "favorable treatment for sexual favors," Stines was listed as a defendant "for allegedly failing to properly train" the deputy sheriff, theCourier Journal previously reported.

The suit says the abuse occurred in the chamber of Mullins, but does not say if he was aware of it or allege he was involved in any wrongdoing. The suit also alleged Stines did not “reasonably respond” to reports or suspicions.

Stines went on to fire the deputy sheriff for "conduct unbecoming," theCourier Journal previously reported.

In 2019, Stines was vocal about the "meth epidemic" plaguing Letcher County after a group of five students were involved in an incident with methamphetamine, according to a report fromthe Owensboro Messenger-Enquirer.

According to an electronically filed deposition notice, Stines was expected to provide a deposition Monday related to the 2022 lawsuit with the former deputy sheriff and the woman who alleged she was promised "favorable treatment for sexual favors."

Who is Judge Kevin Mullins?

Mullins was district judge of the 47th Judicial District, which presides over Letcher County. He was appointed to the position in 2009 by former Gov. Steve Beshear, according to an archivedarticle in The Mountain Eagle. He was elected to the position the following year,election records show.

Prior to becoming a judge, he was an assistant commonwealth’s attorney in Letcher County since 2001.

He graduated from the University of Kentucky and attended the University of Louisville Louis D. Brandeis School of Law as a postgrad student.

Mullins was also an advocate for programs that diverted people with substance use disorder toward treatment rather than detention. He championed a program in Letcher County that allowed people facing behavioral health issues to have charges dropped in exchange for successful completion of a treatment program,The Mountain Eagle previously reported.

What happened in Letcher County District Court in Whitesburg, Kentucky?

KSP spokesperson Matt Gayheart statedthat Post 13 in Hazard received reports around 2:55 p.m. Thursday that shots were fired inside the Letcher County District Court.

Multiple first-response agencies arrived at the scene and found that Mullins, 54, of Jackhorn, had suffered multiple gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead on the scene by the Letcher County Coroner’s Office.

Investigators determined that the shooting transpired after an argument between Stines and Mullins, Gayheart said. Stines was taken into custody shortly after without incident.

The Mountain Eagle, a local newspaper in Whitesburg, reported Stines walked into the judge's outer office and told court employees that he needed to talk to Mullins alone. The pair entered the inner office, closed the door and shots rang out shortly after, according to the report. Stines then walked out of the room with hands raised and turned himself over to police.