A judge in a rural Kentucky county was shot dead in his courtroom on Thursday and the local sheriff was charged with murder, police said.
According to the Kentucky State Police, preliminary investigations indicate that Letcher County Sheriff Shawn M. Stines shot District Judge Kevin Mullins multiple times following an argument in the courthouse.
Mullins, who served as judge for 15 years, died at the scene, and Stines surrendered without incident.
Kentucky Supreme Court Chief Justice Laurance B. VanMeter said he was “shocked by this act of violence” and the court system was “shaken by this news.”
The Letcher County Magistrate Judge signed an order closing the district court on Friday.
The courthouse is located in Whitesburg, 146 miles southeast of Lexington, Kentucky.
Mullins, 54, was hit multiple times in the shooting, Kentucky State Police said. Stines, 43, has been charged with first-degree murder. The investigation is ongoing, police said.
“There is too much violence in this world”
In response to the shooting, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said in a social media post: “There is far too much violence in this world and I pray there is a path to a better future.”
Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman said his office would work with a prosecutor in the area as a special prosecutor in the criminal case. “We will fully investigate and seek justice,” Coleman said on social media.
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.
Mullins was known for advocating for substance abuse treatment for people involved in the justice system, helping hundreds of residents find residential treatment, according to a program for a drug summit where he spoke in 2022.
He also helped develop a program called Addiction Recovery Care, which provides peer support services in the courthouse. The program has been implemented in at least 50 counties in Kentucky.
Mullins was also a founding member of the Responsive Effort to Support Treatment in Opioid Recovery Efforts leadership team.
