KY, Judge Kevin Mullins killed, sheriff arrested, Letcher County courthouse shooting - Sep. 19, 2024 MEDIA, MAPS, & TIMELINE**NO DISCUSSION**

[Seattle1]

Ex-Kentucky sheriff charged in judge’s killing battled jail staff days after shooting: court records

Former Letcher County Sheriff Shawn "Mickey" Stines is charged with killing District Judge Kevin Mullins in his chambers, and court documents show that Stines was in an "active state of psychosis" after the shooting and had to be subdued with pepper spray.

www.yahoo.com

9/4/25

Adkins’ attorney, Ned Pillersdorf, has said that Mullins and Fields were “running a brothel out of that courtroom,” per a NewsNation reporter who spoke to Pillersdorf.

Stines turned himself over to the authorities minutes after the shooting, after initially leaving the courthouse and then returning. His attorney has said that they will likely pursue an insanity defense, as the defendant was reportedly in an active state of psychosis for days following his arrest.

Stines likely won’t stand trial until next year, when he could face the death penalty if convicted.

 

[Seattle1]

https://fox56news.com/news/kentucky/court-documents-reveal-why-ex-kentucky-sheriff-called-daughter-before-shooting-judge/

9/4/25

WHITESBURG, Ky. (FOX 56) — Multiple witnesses reportedly believe the former Letcher County sheriff was experiencing psychosis during the fatal shooting of Judge Kevin Mullins almost a year ago.

 

[Seattle1]

Ex-sheriff’s lawyer says he never made the claim about lies in deposition - The Mountain Eagle

A criminal defense attorney for former sheriff Mickey Stines has filed an affidavit in a civil case that he never said his client lied in a deposition that occurred three days before Stines shot and killed District Judge Kevin R. Mullins. Bethany Baxter, a lawyer for Sabrina Adkins, who is suing...

www.themountaineagle.com

6/26/25

The motion by the plaintiff included the following passage:

“This civil suit had drawn a lot of attention to things that were happening in the courthouse,” Bartley said. “And in fact, if you look at it, it was because of this lawsuit – the reason that there had been a camera placed in the judge’s chambers, which is highly unusual, highly unusual to have such concern that the administrative office of courts puts a security camera in a judge’s chambers.”

Bartley said that Stines was under pressure by his peers not to say too much during the proceedings in the civil lawsuit.

“I think one of the big things is that my client felt there had been pressure placed on him not to say too much during the deposition, and not to talk about things that happened within the courthouse, particularly in the judge’s chambers,” he said.

“On the day that this [shooting] happened, my client had attempted multiple times to contact his wife and daughter, and he firmly believed that they were in danger,” Bartley said. “He believed that they were in danger because of what he knew to have happened within the courthouse. And there was pressure, and there were threats made to him to sort of keep him in line, to keep them from saying more than these folks wanted him to say.”

While the plaintiffs in the civil suit say this means Stines lied under oath and should be deposed again, Bartley said in the declaration that he did not mean that Stines lied.

 

[Seattle1]

MSN

9/6/25

Stines ‘has lost his mind,’ colleague said before shooting​

Local attorney Daniel Dotson, described as a friend of the victim, warned Mullins before the shooting that “Mickey was ‘losing it’ and ‘couldn’t take this kind of pressure,’” according to a document filed by defense attorneys.

The local police chief told Dotson, “That son of a has lost his mind,” according to Dotson’s testimony to investigators.

“I think his anxiety was completely off charts,” a sheriff’s office staffer told Kentucky State Police, according to the defense team. “I do feel like he was in a psychosis.”

Several witnesses testified that Stines’ paranoia was growing prior to the shooting on September 19, 2024, saying he expressed fear that “they” were going to kill his wife and daughter, without specifying who “they” were.

 

[rldeeter]

https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/01/us/kentucky-judge-murder-stines-hearing/index.html

OCT 1, 2024

View attachment 534838

Shocking video showing the killing of a Kentucky judge in his chambers was played Tuesday at the preliminary hearing for the former sheriff accused of his murder.

Shawn “Mickey” Stines, 43, who officially resigned Monday as sheriff of Letcher County, appeared in court in a jail uniform and handcuffs as prosecutors presented their evidence in the murder of District Judge Kevin Mullins.

Judge Rupert Wilhoit found probable cause to refer the first-degree murder charge to a grand jury. Defense attorneys did not deny that Stines shot Mullins, 54, last month, but suggested Stines was experiencing an “extreme emotional disturbance” at the time of the shooting.


“I think they’ve established probable cause for manslaughter first, but not murder,” defense attorney Jeremy Bartley told the judge.

Where can I find a place to download the court documents?

 

[Seattle1]

https://fox56news.com/news/kentucky/civil-suit-involving-ex-sheriff-exposes-sexual-exploitation-in-letcher-county-courts/

9/19/25

Pillersdorf said, unfortunately, he doesn’t believe what happened in Letcher County is an isolated incident.

“What I’m hoping to get out of this is just to protect my female clients and other female criminal defendants,” added Pillersdorf. “A lot of them don’t have $400 a month, and sometimes the alternative is they’re coerced into sexual acts, which is, by definition, rape.”

Fields pleaded guilty to third-degree rape, third-degree sodomy, two counts of tampering with a prisoner monitoring device, and second-degree perjury.

 

[Seattle1]

Initial Civil Lawsuit: Case: 7:22-cv-00007-REW-EBA Doc #: 1 Filed: 01/31/22 Page: 1 of 12

https://spectrumnews1.com/content/dam/News/static/pdfs/ky/deputy_lawsuit_ky_0920.pdf

 

[Seattle1]

Adkins v. Fields et al, No. 7:2022cv00007 - Document 165 (E.D. Ky. 2025)​

9/19/25 --Court's Opinion & Order re Summary Judgement:


Court Description: OPINION & ORDER: 1. Court DENIES DE 153 ; 2. Court GRANTS DE 155 , as to joinder; 3. Court GRANTS in part and DENIES in part DE 136 and DE 152 ; 4. Claims by Adkins against Fields under 1983 (Fourteenth Amendment), a nd assault and battery persist for trial; 5. Claims by Adkins against Sheriff, officially, under 1983 (Fourteenth Amendment) and failure to train or supervise persist for trial; 6. Claims by Adkins against EKCS, under 1983 (Fourteenth Amendment) an d for negligence persist for trial; 7. Court DISMISSES Pla Adkins's remaining claims with prejudice; 8. Court DISMISSES Pla Hill's claims, in their entirety, with prejudice; and 9. By nlt October 6, 2025, Court ORD ERS parties to file a joint status report setting forth following: a) anticipated length of trial; b) dates of availability for trial in first half of 2026; and c) whether parties intend to engage in mediation and, relatedly, whether parties have interest in mediation by Magistrate Judge. Signed by Judge Robert E. Wier on 9/19/2025. (TDA) cc: COR

PDF pages 1-38

https://cases.justia.com/federal/district-courts/kentucky/kyedce/7:2022cv00007/97721/165/0.pdf?ts=1758372968

 

[Seattle1]

https://www.kentucky.com/news/local/crime/article312211435.html#campaignName=lexington_morning_newsletter

9/23/35

A civil lawsuit accusing government officials in a small, Eastern Kentucky town of exchanging legal leniency for sexual favors may go to trial after a judge ruled Friday the case could proceed.

[..]

Just days before the shooting, Stines gave testimony in a “tense” deposition in Adkins’ case. Jeremy Bartley, Stines’ attorney, previously said the deposition was a “crucial” part of the events that led to the shooting. Fields was already sentenced to and released from prison on criminal charges in Adkins’ case. But Adkins’ civil suit could reveal more about what her lawyer, Ned Pillersdorf, says are systemic problems involving illicit sex and the criminal justice system in Letcher County.

Read more at: https://www.kentucky.com/news/local/crime/article312211435.html#storylink=cpy

 

[Seattle1]

2/12/25

Full transcript of Stines deposition reveals little about motive for shooting - The Mountain Eagle

An attorney in the federal lawsuit against former Sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines told the plaintiffs’ lawyer Bethany Baxter that Stines has had “California encephalitis” and “some issues” when he is under stress. The remark was made by attorney Jonathan Shaw in a deposition filed in federal court...

www.themountaineagle.com

Full transcript of Stines deposition reveals little about motive for shooting​

 

[Seattle1]

March 25, 2025

The 196-page deposition, taken Sept. 16, 2024, and published in court documents Feb. 7, was part of a separate, federal investigation of Stines’ office. But the deposition, Bartley said, was a key piece of the story that led to the shooting that rocked the small Eastern Kentucky town of Whitesburg. The investigation was related to a lawsuit that claimed Stines failed to properly supervise a deputy who coerced a woman into having sex in Mullins’ office.

Read more at: https://www.kentucky.com/news/local/crime/article302753479.html#storylink=cpy