JENKINS, Ky. — A Kentucky judge who authorities say was fatally shot by a sheriff last week was remembered Sunday as a pioneer who battled opioid addiction and favored treatment over prison for low-level drug offenders.
Hundreds of mourners, including a procession of black-robed judges, filed into the Jenkins High School auditorium to pay their respects to District Judge Kevin R. Mullins, 54.
Letcher County Sheriff Shawn M. Stines is accused of shooting Mullins multiple times in the judge’s chambers Thursday afternoon. Stines has been charged with murder and is expected to make his first court appearance this week.
Authorities are investigating the motive for the crime. Kentucky State Police said the shooting appears to have occurred following an argument.
There was a heavy law enforcement presence at Sunday’s ceremony.
Several judges from across the state spoke at the funeral, sharing their personal experiences and praising Mullins as a leader in the fight against opioid addiction and advocating for the mental health needs of people going through the justice system.
“His passion for people was his magic touch. He can’t count the number of lives he saved or improved,” said state Supreme Court Justice Debra Lambert, who served on the state Judicial Commission on Mental Health alongside Mullins. “Our court family is grieving his loss.”
Family members did not speak during the funeral. From her wheelchair, Patsy Holbrook Mullins hugged or shook hands with mourners as they approached her son’s brown, open casket, adorned with a bouquet of yellow flowers.
She told NBC News afterward that she was moved by the community’s service and support.
“I’m so impressed by the amount of support and the community getting behind the mission that he wanted so much,” she said. “He wanted to make a difference to the opioid epidemic. That was his passion.”
District Judge J. Foster Cotthoff told the crowd of about 500 that Mullins “worked tirelessly” and was a state leader and innovator in opioid treatment.
“He saw the good in people even when they didn’t see it themselves,” Cotthoff said.
Mullins was an advocate of a rehabilitative approach for some offenders instead of prison time, according to a version of his obituary printed in the department’s program.
“From the beginning of his judicial career, Kevin recognized that incarceration alone was not enough to combat the opioid epidemic in the Commonwealth,” he said.
Mullins “pioneered a local protocol to connect individuals to treatment services early in their involvement with the justice system, leading a transformative change in how justice could support recovery,” the obituary said.
The protocol has been recognized statewide, he said.
Mullins also played a role in reshaping Kentucky’s courts’ approach to behavioral health.
Matt Brown, president of Addiction Recovery Care of Kentucky, said Sunday that when low-level drug offenders enter Mullins’ courtroom, he will send them to rehab, not prison.
“He was an innovator,” Brown said. “He was ahead of the curve.”
Mullins was born in 1970 in Pikeville, Kentucky. He began his career after earning a degree in political science from the University of Kentucky and then a law degree from the University of Louisville, according to his obituary.
He was first appointed in 2009 to fill a vacancy on the bench and served as a district court judge for 14 years, according to the obituary.
At the ceremony, District Judge James Craft told a story about a trip he and Mullins took to New York years ago.
Craft said Mullins, who he describes as a foodie, had reservations at fancy restaurants for his entire trip but canceled the last night because he wanted to try a cheeseburger.
“Kevin was a lot of things to a lot of people, but to me he was my friend,” Craft said.
Besides his mother, Mullins is survived by his wife, Kimberly; his daughters, Mya and Ava; his sister; three nephews; and a niece.
