Video Footage Shows Fatal Shooting of Kentucky Judge

A preliminary hearing in the case against a former sheriff yielded details about his interactions with the slain judge before he was killed.

Video of the fatal shooting of a judge in Kentucky was played in court on Tuesday, as prosecutors presented evidence of their case against the ex-sheriff charged with carrying out the killing on Sept. 19.

In the footage, a man is seen opening fire on the judge, Kevin Mullins, who is pictured in his robes, sitting in his chambers in the Letcher County Courthouse in Whitesburg. When the judge tumbles out of his chair, the gunman walks around the desk and fires additional shots.

“Multiple gunshot wounds,” Detective Clayton Stamper of the Kentucky State Police said in court on Tuesday afternoon.

Prosecutors say that Shawn Stines, who had been the Letcher County sheriff for several years, was the shooter. The hearing on Tuesday was to determine whether there was probable cause for the murder charges filed against Mr. Stines after he was arrested. He pleaded not guilty last week during a virtual arraignment.

As Jackie Steele, the prosecutor handling the case, played the soundless, minute-long clip of footage from a security camera, the judge’s relatives and friends seated in the courtroom sobbed.

After his arrest, Mr. Stines, who is known as Mickey, announced through his lawyers that he was retiring, at age 43, “to allow for a successor to continue to protect his beloved constituents while he addresses the legal process ahead of him.”

H. Rupert Wilhoit III, the chief regional district judge who presided over the hearing on Tuesday, found that there was probable cause, and the case will now be presented to a grand jury. But the proceedings on Tuesday afternoon, held in another county, about two hours from Letcher, left unclear what investigators believe may have been the motive behind the killing.

Under questioning from Jeremy A. Bartley, one of the defense lawyers, Detective Stamper said that the judge and Mr. Stines had lunch at a local restaurant and then went to the courthouse. It was there, in his chambers, that Judge Mullins was killed.

A witness who was in the next room later told the police that gunshots could be heard as well as a man’s voice, believed to be the judge’s.

“Help. Help,” the man was heard crying out.

Detective Stamper said that there was no indication that the shooting had been planned. Neither was there any indication from witnesses of any tension at the lunch earlier that day, the detective said.

“I was told that the judge made a statement to Mickey about, ‘Do we need to meet private in my chambers?’” Detective Stamper said. “That’s all.”

He added that, after Mr. Stines surrendered, “he was mostly calm” and did not disclose a motive.

“All he said was, ‘Treat me fair,’” the detective recounted.

The phones of Mr. Stines, the judge and an employee at the sheriff’s office are being analyzed by investigators, the detective said, noting that there may have been text messages referencing the lunch and the circumstances leading up to the shooting.

The shooting rattled Letcher County, a tight-knit Appalachian community of about 21,000 people near the Virginia border that once thrived on the coal industry.

Mr. Stines was first elected sheriff in 2018 and then re-elected in 2022. Earlier this month, he was deposed as part of an ongoing case involving a former deputy accused of sexually abusing a former inmate. The lawsuit accuses Mr. Stines of “deliberate indifference in failing to adequately train and supervise” his former deputy, whom he subsequently fired. At the time, Mr. Stines denied any wrongdoing to The Lexington Herald Leader.

Judge Mullins was appointed to the bench in 2009 to fill a vacancy, and he won re-election for subsequent full terms. Before that, he served as the assistant commonwealth’s attorney in Letcher County.

After Tuesday’s hearing, Mr. Bartley and the other defense lawyers — his wife, Kerri N. Bartley, and Jim Cox — cautioned that there were still far more questions than answers. They noted that there was no testimony to indicate that the shooting was planned.

“We feel like today that there was no evidence that would lead me to believe that this is murder,” Mr. Bartley said. “It feels more like an extreme emotional disturbance.”