A small Kentucky town is still reeling after a longtime sheriff was charged with shooting and killing a judge at the county courthouse on Sept. 19, in a shocking act of violence that left many questions unanswered.
State police said Sheriff Shawn Stines, 43, shot and killed District Judge Kevin Mullins, 54, after an argument in the judge’s chambers. Stines surrendered, was arrested at the scene and now faces first-degree murder charges.
The motive for the shooting remains unclear, leaving the town of Whiteburg, population 1,711, wondering what happened between the two elected officials.
“The community is small by nature, and we’re all shocked,” Kentucky State Trooper Matt Gayheart said at a news conference the evening of Sept. 19, after the shooting. “We know that an argument between the two men led to this shooting, but we’re still trying to get answers as to what exactly happened before the shooting.”
Several residents told media outlets that Stines was a longtime, valued member of the community and wondered what led to the outburst. Stines and Mullins were friends and had worked together at the county courthouse for more than a decade.
Stines was recently removed from his position amid a federal investigation involving a former deputy who pleaded guilty to raping and coercing a woman into the courthouse. Ben Fields, the former deputy, was sentenced to six months in prison and nearly seven years of probation as part of a plea deal. Fields was fired in 2022 while the allegations were pending in court.
The woman at the center of the case, in addition to the estate of a second woman who made similar allegations against Field when she was alive but has since died, sued Stines for failing to properly investigate the allegations.
A defense attorney for Stines in the trial said he “always acted in good faith and exercised reasonable care and skill in carrying out his duties as required by law,” according to CNN.
On September 16, three days before the shooting, Stines was deposed in the case, sources told CNN.
Magistrate Court Clerk Mike Watts told local television station WKYT that the sheriff and judge had lunch together just before the shooting, but police have not yet said what the argument that led to the shooting was about.
Stines’ relatives said the alleged shooting was unusual and were shocked to hear the accusation that he murdered Mullins.
“You can’t find a better person on earth than Mickey Stines. I don’t know what happened,” Patty Wood, the widow of Mullins’ predecessor and a friend of Stines, told ABC News. “I know Stines’ character. And I know there must have been something that did this. … I can’t believe he just came in and shot him for no reason.”
Bill and Josephine Richardson, a couple who have lived in the city for more than 50 years, told the Louisville Courier-Journal that Stines was well-liked in the community, and two people they spoke to said Stines “wasn’t himself” earlier in the week before the shooting.
