FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) – A former Kentucky sheriff was charged Thursday with the murder of a judge who was gunned down in his courthouse two months ago, shocking a small Appalachian community.
Shawn “Mickey” Stines was indicted by a Letcher County grand jury for the murder of a government official, prosecutors said. Stines was sheriff of southeastern Kentucky when authorities say he walked into District Judge Kevin Mullins' chambers in Whitesburg, spoke to the judge and then opened fire on September 19.
Mullins, 54, who held the judgeship for 15 years, died at the scene and Stines surrendered without incident. Stines pleaded not guilty to murder and was held at another prison in Kentucky.
Stines, 43, stepped down as sheriff more than a week after the shooting and his replacement, Billy Jones, was sworn in on October 1. Jones was a former high school resource officer in Letcher County.
Prosecutors made no comment after charges were filed Thursday in Letcher County. Attorneys for Stines did not immediately respond to a phone call and email requesting comment.
Police have not provided a motive for the shooting involving two prominent members of the county bordering Virginia. Whitesburg is located 145 miles southeast of Lexington, Kentucky.
Video showing the judge being shot was played during a court hearing last month. The video, without audio, showed a man identified by police as Stines pulling out a gun and shooting the judge as he sat at his desk. The man walked around the desk, pointed the gun at the judge – who had fallen to the ground – and fired again, it turned out. Some people in the courtroom cried as the video played.
Mullins died of multiple gunshot wounds, a Kentucky State Police detective said during the hearing.
The detective testified that Stines tried to call his daughter on Mullins' phone and his own phone just before the shooting. Investigators found no weapon on Mullins or in his rooms, the detective said.
On the day of the shooting, Mullins and Stines met for lunch with several other people at a restaurant near the courthouse, the detective said during the hearing.
Stines' defense team said they left the hearing with more questions than answers and said they were conducting their own “parallel investigation.”
Stines could face the death penalty for the murder charge.
