Kentucky Sheriff Accused of Killing Judge In his Chambers Plans to Present Insanity Defense

Mar. 15, 2025

Judge Kevin Mullins, Former Letcher County Ky. Sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines.Photo:Kentucky Court of Justice via AP; AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley

Kentucky Court of Justice via AP; AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley

The Kentucky sheriff accused of killing a district judge plans to mount an insanity defense.

“We’re confident that there will be evidence that his mental health was impaired,” defense attorney Jeremy Bartley tells PEOPLE. “It’s a tragic situation all around."

Stines is accused of killing 54-year-old District JudgeKevin Mullinsafter an argument in the judge’s chambers in the city of Whitesburg on Thursday, Sept. 19.

Avideoof the shooting appeared to show Stines firing at Mullins multiple times while the judge was sitting at his desk and then after he fell to the floor.

Fields pleaded guilty to third-degree rape, third-degree sodomy, two counts of tampering with a prisoner monitoring device and second-degree perjury in the case involving one of the women, per theMountain Eagle.

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“We believe that the evidence will show there was an extreme amount of pressure placed upon him to be careful in what he said in the civil suit,” says Bartley.

Stines didn’t sleep for days following the deposition, and his coworkers and family became so concerned for him they “basically had an intervention and took him to a medical provider” the day before the shooting, Bartley said. Witnesses said that Stines had “expressed his fear of other people harming him or his family,” the attorney continued.

“I believe that there is reason to believe that there was an objective threat,” he says. “But we believe his mental health impaired his ability to determine the immediacy of that threat.”

Police have yet to provide a motive in the alleged slaying, which has rocked tiny Letcher County, where Stines and Mullins were longtime friends and colleagues. Stines served as the bailiff in Mullins' court before he became sheriff in 2018.

Mullins wide jurisdiction as judge included misdemeanors, traffic offenses, arraignments, small claims, civil cases and probate of wills, among other things, according to a Letcher Countywebsite.

The two men had eaten lunch earlier that day with a handful of people, a Kentucky State Police detective testified during a preliminary hearing in October, per theLouisville Courier Journal.

source: people.com