What Does Sheriff Shawn Stines's Daughter Have to Do With Judge Kevin Mullins's Murder?

The deadly shooting of Kentucky Judge Kevin Mullins by his longtime friend and work associate, Letcher County Sheriff Shawn "Mickey" Stines, has left a community reeling. On Sept. 19, 2024, Stines walked into the private chambers of Judge Mullins and shot him multiple times. Nearby employees heard the gunshots and quickly called police. Stines was subsequently arrested without issue and has since pleaded not guilty to the murder charges.

During a hearing on Oct 1, horrifying footage of the incident was shown in the courtroom. In the video, Stines is seen pointing his gun and shooting at Mullins while he cowers behind his desk. Before leaving, Stines turns around one more time and shoots Mullins again. Kentucky State Police Detective Clayton Stamper testified that the full video shows Stines making several calls, one is to his daughter, per the Louisville Courier-Journal. There is a twist.

When Stines punched in his daughter's number and hit send, he did it from Judge Kevin Mullins's cell phone. This happened seconds before Stines pulled out his gun. Earlier in the day, Stines and Mullins were eating lunch together and multiple witnesses allegedly heard Mullins ask Stines if they should meet in private.

Stines appeared in his chambers late that day, which is when the shooting occurred. Not only did Stines call his daughter from Mullins's phone, but he also tried ringing her multiple times from his own. Both phones were sent to a forensics team to be analyzed while Stines's daughter was interviewed by police. According to Stamper, as Stines was being arrested he said, "They are trying to kidnap my wife and kid."

Several days before the shooting, Stines was deposed for a lawsuit that claims he "knew or should’ve known that a former deputy had coerced a female drug defendant into having sex in exchange for freeing her from house arrest." In the wake of the murder, people are now paying closer attention to how Stines was acting during the deposition. Many have said he appeared extremely agitated and asked to take frequent breaks, reported NPR.

Stines's odd behavior continued after the deposition ended. When someone from Lechter's weekly paper, The Mountain Eagle, called him to get a quote about a fatal accident, it took Stines hours to respond. Normally he returned calls almost immediately.

The former sheriff later told the outlet that he instructed everyone at the sheriff's office not to speak with them until he returned. Strangely, Stines told the newspaper he had lost 40 pounds in two weeks and had no idea what was going on.

As of October 2024, a trial date has not been set for Stines. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.