WHITESBURG, Kentucky — The sheriff charged with murder in connection with the shooting death of a rural Kentucky judge in his courthouse was accused in a federal lawsuit of failing to investigate allegations that one of his deputies repeatedly sexually assaulted a woman in that judge’s chambers.
Preliminary investigation shows Letcher County Sheriff Shawn M. Stines shot District Judge Kevin Mullins multiple times Thursday following an altercation in the courthouse, Kentucky State Police said.
Mullins, who served as a judge for 15 years, died at the scene and Stines surrendered without incident.
It was not immediately clear what exactly the two men were arguing about.
Stines was questioned Monday in a lawsuit filed by two women, one of whom alleges an officer forced her to have sex in Mullins’ quarters for six months in exchange for staying out of jail. The lawsuit accuses the sheriff of “deliberate indifference by failing to adequately train and supervise the officer.”
Now-former deputy sheriff Ben Fields pleaded guilty to raping the female inmate while she was locked up at home. Fields was sentenced this year to six months in jail followed by six and a half years of probation for rape, sodomy, perjury and tampering with an inmate monitoring device, The Mountain Eagle reportedThree charges against a second woman were dropped because she has since died.
Stines fired Fields, who was his successor as Mullins’ bailiff, for “inappropriate conduct” after the lawsuit was filed in 2022, The Courier Journal reported reported at that time.
The judge’s killing sent shockwaves through the close-knit Appalachian town. Whitesburg is the county seat of a county of about 1,700, located about 145 miles (235 kilometers) southeast of Lexington. Instead of holding the sheriff in the local jail, authorities booked Stines into the Leslie County Detention Center, two counties away, where he remained Friday morning.
Chief District Attorney Matt Butler said he showed tremendous compassion when he recused himself and his office from the investigation, noting that he had social and family ties to Mullins.
“We all know each other here. … Anyone from Letcher County would tell you that Judge Mullins and I married sisters and have children who are cousins but act like siblings,” Butler said in a statement released by his office. “For that reason, and others, I have already taken steps to disqualify myself and my entire office.”
Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman said his office will work with a county commonwealth prosecutor as special prosecutors in the criminal case. Mullins, 54, was shot multiple times in the shooting, state police said. Stines, 43, was charged with one count of first-degree murder.
“We will thoroughly investigate the matter and pursue justice,” Coleman said on social media.
Kentucky Supreme Court Chief Justice Laurance B. VanMeter said he was “shocked by this violent act” and that the justice system was “shocked by this news.”
The Letcher County magistrate closed the courthouse on Friday.
It was unclear whether Stines had an attorney. State police referred questions to a spokesman, who did not immediately respond by email.
“There is far too much violence in this world, and I pray that there is a path to a better future,” Gov. Andy Beshear posted in response to the shooting.
Mullins has served as a district judge in Letcher County since being appointed by former Governor Steve Beshear in 2009 and elected the following year.