A District Judge was gunned down Friday in his chambers by the local sheriff in a case that has rocked a tiny Kentucky town.
Two of the most prominent citizens in the tiny town of Appalachian were involved in a shooting on Friday that left District Judge Kevin Mullins dead. Mullins was shot multiple times in his chambers by Letcher County Sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines. Although it’s still not apparent what led to the shooting, a preliminary investigation suggests that the incident occurred after an argument inside the courthouse.
“It’s just so sad. I just hate it,” said Mike Watts, the Letcher County circuit court clerk. “Both of them are friends of mine. I’ve worked with both of them for years.”
Mullins, 54, who held the judgeship for 15 years, died at the scene. Stines, 43, surrendered to law enforcement without incident and has been charged with one count of first-degree murder.
More To The Case?
An investigation into the incident revealed that Stines was 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 named deputy. The now-former deputy sheriff, Ben Fields, pleaded guilty to raping the female prisoner while she was on home incarceration. Fields was sentenced earlier this year to six months in jail and six and a half years of probation for rape, sodomy, perjury and tempering with a prisoner monitoring device. The charges related to the second woman have been dismissed as she has since died.
Stines fired Fields before becoming Mullins’ bailiff in 2022. Those who knew both said Mullins and Stines were both work colleagues and friends in the real world. It’s unclear if Stines has retained legal representation yet.
This is clearly an odd case, and it certainly seems like there’s more to the story than a simple agreement that escalated. It’s just hard to believe that an argument between esteemed work colleagues could escalate to murder, and it wouldn’t be surprising to learn if there was more to the sexual assault case involving the previous deputy sheriff. We’ll keep our ears to the ground to listen for any more information about the case, but as it stands it is quite the tragic tale for a judge who served his county for 15 years.
As always, if you need legal help in the greater Twin Cities area, turn to the team at Appelman Law Firm. For assistance with your criminal matter, connect with Avery and the team at Appelman Law Firm today at (952) 224-2277.
