A judge in a rural Kentucky county was shot and killed in his courtroom Thursday, and a local sheriff has been charged with murder, police said.
A preliminary investigation indicates that Letcher County Sheriff Shawn M. Stines shot District Judge Kevin Mullins multiple times following an altercation in court, according to Kentucky State Police.
Mullins, who had been a judge for 15 years, died at the scene, while Stines surrendered without incident.
Kentucky Supreme Court Chief Justice Laurance B. VanMeter said he was “shocked by this act of violence” and that the court system was “shaken by this news.”
The chief judge of Letcher County signed an order to close the district court on Friday.
The courthouse is in Whitesburg, 235 miles southeast of Lexington, Ky.
Mullins, 54, was struck multiple times in the incident, Kentucky State Police said. Stines, 43, was charged with murder. The investigation is ongoing, police said.
‘Too much violence in this world’
In response to this shooting, Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky said on social media: “There is too much violence in this world, and I pray that there is a way to a better tomorrow.”
Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman said his office will work with the district attorney general as special prosecutors in the criminal case. “We will fully investigate and pursue 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 promoting substance abuse treatment for people involved in the justice system and has helped hundreds of citizens enter treatment, according to a 2022 drug conference program.
He also helped develop a program called Addiction Recovery Care to provide peer support services in court. This program is accepted in at least 50 counties in Kentucky.
Mullins also served as a founding member of the Treatment Support Response Initiative on the Opioid Recovery Leadership Team.