- Stines is accused of killing Judge Kevin Mullins, who was shot in his chambers.
- The arraignment will take place via Zoom, allowing media to attend virtually.
- The Mountain Heritage Festival will proceed, with some events moved from the courthouse to the city hall.
- The community of Whitesburg remains resilient, continuing with scheduled events in the face of tragedy.
Whitesburg Day, the week of the Mountain Heritage Festival, is taking place the week after Judge Kevin Mullins was shot and killed in chambers. The sheriff accused of killing him is Shawn Mickey Stines.
Resident Letha Dollarhyde said, "It's gonna be hard cause it's gonna be hard to make sense of it all. Make sense of it and to make sense of it to our children."
It's been six days since the shooting here at Letcher County Courthouse in Whitesburg, and Dollarhyde, who was born and raised in Whitesburg, talked about how this community will respond following this unspeakable tragedy.
"We have to go on," Dollarhyde said.
Dollarhyde is still in shock over the shooting. "I didn't know the judge that well. I met him a few times, met the sheriff several times and talked to him cause a lot of my family has been in law enforcement," she explained.
The talk around town this week was supposed to center on a festival that brought in 22,000 last year, and the Mountain Heritage Festival will continue on schedule. The difference is, events and activities scheduled to take place at the courthouse have been moved to city hall.
Another resident, Lee Adams, said, "Everything is still happening here, downtown like Whitesburg Day. We just decided to stay away from the courthouse and move down the street."
For Adams, this community is "Letcher County Strong."
Dollarhyde calls it resilient under the circumstances.
"Two men's lives were changed forever. Their families' lives were changed forever," Dollarhyde stated.
