Kentucky sheriff accused of fatally shooting judge in chambers pleads not guilty

CARTER COUNTY, Kentucky — The Kentucky sheriff charged with first-degree murder in the death of a district court judge pleaded not guilty Wednesday in his first court appearance since the slaying that shocked the small Letcher County community .

Shawn “Mickey” Stines, 43, remains jailed without bail following the arraignment, which was held remotely in a Carter County courtroom, 100 miles from the courthouse where Judge Kevin Mullins, 54 years old, was shot six days earlier.

Prosecutors presented no evidence at the arraignment, leaving a mystery about the possible motive for the killing. Stines appeared remotely from the Leslie County Detention Center.

Stines also did not comment on the charges during the hearing, but Judge Rupert Wilhoit questioned him about his finances after Stines confirmed he wanted a court-appointed attorney.

The judge expressed skepticism about whether Stines, who said he owned two homes and made $115,000 as sheriff, was truly destitute.

“Sir, my understanding is that he is obviously losing his position as sheriff of Letcher County and will have no income in the future,” public defender Josh Miller told the judge.

A preliminary hearing to present evidence in the case was scheduled for Oct. 1 before a different Morgan County judge, another courtroom far from the crime scene.

What happened in the judge’s chambers moments before the fatal shooting this afternoon remains under investigation, authorities said. Other people were in the building when the judge was shot, but no one else was in his chambers, Kentucky State Police Trooper Matt Gayheart said.

Stines’ job made him responsible for security at county courthouses, including the personal safety of judges, according to the Kentucky Sheriff’s Association. He now faces a first-degree murder charge, and it’s unclear who will replace him as sheriff.

Cameras were inside the building and any witnesses will be interviewed, said Gayheart, who noted it was the first time a tragedy “of this magnitude” had afflicted the county.

Stines and Mullins had lunch together hours before the shooting, Circuit Court Clerk Mike Watts told CNN affiliate WKYT.

“The whole county is devastated by this,” Watts told WKYT, nodding to the void left in the local justice system. “Not only did we lose our sheriff and our district judge, but I also lost two personal friends that I worked with on a daily basis.”

Just days before the shooting, on September 16, Stines was deposed in an ongoing federal trial involving a former lawmaker who coerced a woman into having sex with him in 2021, CNN previously reported.

The lawsuit alleges that the 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 lawsuit, told CNN in an email that he did not have the authority to speak on Stines’ personal behalf in the federal lawsuit or the case of the murder.

Act of violence between 2 men ‘I loved like brothers,’ says county attorney
Many residents knew the two prominent figures in the community, and friends of the sheriff and judge said they were stunned by the killing and struggled to understand why it happened.

The calm and seemingly routine court day turned chaotic when police received a 911 call shortly before 3 p.m. Thursday reporting shots fired from inside the courthouse, state police said.

Hearing reports of an active shooter in the courthouse, court security officer Wallace Kincer and Watts, the circuit court clerk, sprang into action, pulling attorneys and staff away from the courthouse. court of the unknown danger lurking in the rooms, according to Matt Butler, commonwealth’s attorney for Letcher County.

Fear spread across the county as Letcher County Public Schools students were placed on lockdown shortly before 3:30 p.m.

Mullins was found with multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

Butler recused himself and his office from the sheriff’s prosecution because he and the judge married two sisters and their children behave more like siblings than cousins, he said in a statement. last week. “Our community has suffered an act of violence that appears to be the work of two men I have worked with for seventeen years and love like brothers,” Butler said in a social media post.

Some residents, including Butler, are calling for more adequate security protocols in the courthouse, such as installing a metal detector and increasing security at the entrance.

“The Letcher County Courthouse is one of the last ones you can enter without a metal detector or security at the front door,” said Butler, who called it “unacceptable.”

Mullins is survived by his wife and two daughters, his obituary states. “He died in his chambers at the courthouse where he spent his career helping people,” the obituary said.

CNN’s Dalia Faheid and Dakin Andone contributed to this report.