A Kentucky town mourns its judge as questions swirl about a dispute that police say led to his killing and arrest by the sheriff
CNN
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As residents of a small southeastern Kentucky town mourn the loss of a prominent district judge, they are searching for answers about the argument that authorities say led to his assassination in the judge’s chambers and the arrest of the sheriff in his death.
Letcher County Sheriff Shawn M. Stines, 43, a man whose role made him responsible for the personal safety of judges, shot District Judge Kevin Mullins, 54, inside the Letcher County Courthouse in Whitesburg on Thursday, according to Kentucky State Police. After the shooting, Stines was arrested at the courthouse and now faces a first-degree murder charge, authorities said.
But what happened in the judge’s chambers moments before the fatal shooting that afternoon remains unclear — leaving the town of fewer than 2,000 people wondering what might have triggered the killing that implicated two elements of the local criminal justice system.
Earlier in the day, Mullins and Stines had lunch together across the street from the courthouse, according to court clerk Mike Watts.
“The judge and the sheriff had lunch together… I saw them earlier,” Watts said in an interview with CNN affiliate WKYT.
A few hours later, an altercation broke out between the two men in the judge’s office, a preliminary investigation revealed.
After a heated conversation, a 911 call reported shots fired on the second floor of the courthouse just before 3 p.m., and then the 15-year-old district judge was found with multiple gunshot wounds and pronounced dead, Kentucky State Police said.
The eight-year Letcher County sheriff is jailed in Leslie County and his first court appearance is scheduled for September 25 before a Carter County judge, said Jackie Steele, the commonwealth’s attorney in the case. CNN is trying to determine if Stines has an attorney.
The murder rocked the small town of Whitesburg – population 1,711 – leaving it without a sheriff or district judge.
“The whole county is devastated by this,” Watts said. “Not only did we lose our sheriff and our district judge, but I lost two close friends that I worked with every day.”
In Kentucky, sheriffs are responsible for security at courthouses — including the personal safety 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 who work with our judges on a daily basis. We work more closely with them than any other elected official,” Wagner told CNN on Friday. “No one saw this coming.”
Mullins’ funeral is scheduled for Sunday afternoon in Jenkins, Ky., according to Hall and Jones Funeral Home. In Mullins’ memory, flags at all Kentucky courthouses will be flown at half-staff through Monday.
“If you knew Letcher County, you would know that families stick together at all times and pull together even more in times of unspeakable tragedy like today,” said Matt Butler, Commonwealth’s Attorney for the county.
Mullins is survived by his wife and two daughters, his obituary said. “He died in his courthouse office where he spent his career working to help people,” the obituary said.
As a “passionate advocate for recovery efforts across Kentucky,” Mullins worked to combat the opioid epidemic by providing access to treatment and helping those affected by substance use disorders, mental illnesses and disabilities, according to his obituary.
In Letcher County, “we all know each other,” Butler said. That’s why the killing involving two high-ranking elected officials sent shockwaves through the community and left friends of the sheriff and judge struggling to understand why it happened.
Butler recused himself and his office from the sheriff’s prosecution because he and the judge married two sisters and their children act more like siblings than cousins, he said in a statement Thursday night. Butler added that he has a “close professional relationship” with Mullins and Stines, he said in a video statement on Facebook Friday.
“Our community has suffered an act of violence that appears to have occurred between two men I worked with for seventeen years and loved like brothers,” Butler said in a social media post.
Another friend of the sheriff and judge, Watts, said he hoped the Kentucky State Police “will provide some answers as to why” the violent act happened because “maybe that can help us all heal.”
“It’s just unimaginable. I don’t know what happened. Or what the reason was,” Watts said. “The whole community, we’re all in shock.”
Ben Gish, editor of the Mountain Eagle, a local weekly newspaper, told CNN that “none of us could have imagined that something like this could happen in our time,” but that the impact of the tragedy will be lasting.
“I can’t imagine the scar this will leave on our community,” Gish said.
In the wake of the murder, Whitesburg residents are mourning the death of Mullins, who had a “passion for helping others,” according to the obituary. He helped develop a program that connects people involved in the justice system to treatment services, according to his obituary. In 2022, the Supreme Court appointed Mullins to the Kentucky Judicial Commission on Mental Health, where he worked to improve the court’s approach to behavioral health.
“He was deeply respected by his colleagues and his loss will be deeply felt throughout the Kentucky justice system,” the obituary said.
For Butler, he will always remember Mullins as a family member who was “pleasant to be around,” he said.
“We always got along great. I always thought he was hilarious. I always thought he was very witty,” he said in the video statement.
Kentucky State Police are investigating how the deadly shooting unfolded and what led to the argument that preceded it. They will do that by reviewing footage from cameras installed inside the courthouse and interviewing any witnesses who were in the building, Kentucky State Trooper Matt Gayheart said.
“We know that it was an argument between the two that led to the incident, but exactly what happened before the shots were fired are things that we’re still trying to get answers to,” Gayheart said at a news conference Thursday night.
It’s the first time a tragedy “of this magnitude” has struck the county, Gayheart said.
Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman’s office will work with Commonwealth’s Attorney General Steele as special prosecutors on the case, it said in a statement Thursday. “We will investigate thoroughly and ensure justice is served,” Coleman said.
Following the shooting, circuit and district courts, as well as the circuit court clerk’s office, 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 the district court’s cases until a judicial nominating commission selects Mullins’ replacement, spokesman Jim Hannah told CNN Friday.
On Monday, days before the shooting, Stines was deposed in an ongoing federal lawsuit involving a former deputy who coerced a woman into having sex with him in 2021. The lawsuit alleges that sexual allegations against the deputy “were not properly investigated by Sheriff Stines,” who fired the deputy in 2022.
Jonathan Shaw, the attorney representing Stines in his official capacity in the trial, told CNN in an email that he does not have the authority to speak on Stines’ personal behalf in the federal trial or in the murder case.
