Residents of a tiny Appalachian town struggled Friday to cope with a shooting involving two of its most prominent citizens: a judge who was gunned down in his courthouse chambers and a local sheriff charged with his murder. "It's just so sad. I just hate it," said Mike Watts, the Letcher County circuit court clerk, per the AP. "Both of them are friends of mine. I've worked with both of them for years." It wasn't clear what led to the shooting. The preliminary investigation indicates Letcher County Sheriff Shawn "Mickey" Stines shot District Judge Kevin Mullins multiple times following an argument inside the courthouse, according to Kentucky State Police. Mullins, 54, who held the judgeship for 15 years, died at the scene, and Stines, 43, surrendered without incident. He was charged with one count of first-degree murder.
The fatal shooting stunned the tight-knit town of Whitesburg, the county seat about 145 miles southeast of Lexington. Stines had been deposed on Monday in a lawsuit filed by two women, one of whom alleged that a deputy forced her to have sex inside Mullins' chambers for six months in exchange for staying out of jail. The lawsuit accuses the sheriff of "deliberate indifference in failing to adequately train and supervise" the deputy. The now-former deputy sheriff, Ben Fields, pleaded guilty to raping the female prisoner while she was on home incarceration. Fields was sentenced this year to six months in jail and then six and a half years on probation for rape, sodomy, perjury, and tampering with a prisoner monitoring device, per the Mountain Eagle. Three charges related to a second woman were dismissed because she's now dead.
Those who know both the sheriff and the judge had nothing but praise for them, recalling how Mullins helped people with substance abuse disorder get treatment and how Stines led efforts to combat the opioid crisis. They worked together for years and were friends. Watts said he saw Mullins and Stines together shortly before noon Thursday—about three hours before the shooting. Mullins and Stines were getting ready to go to lunch together, Watts said. It seemed like an ordinary interaction, except that Stines seemed quieter than usual. Watts thought the pair had a good working relationship and knew of nothing that could have prompted the violent encounter. "We will fully investigate and pursue justice," said Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman on social media. The Letcher County Courthouse was closed down on Friday. More here.
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