WEST LIBERTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — Video shown at the preliminary hearing for the former Letcher County sheriff accused of killing a district judge allegedly showed the deadly shooting.
Today’s hearing for Shawn “Mickey” Stines was held in Morgan County.
Stines is charged with first-degree murder in connection with the shooting of Letcher County District Judge Kevin Mullins at a courthouse in the judge’s chambers on Sept. 19.
Special prosecutor Jackie Steele played a video in court that investigators say showed Stines shooting Judge Mullins several times and say that Mullins had his hands raised in the video.
In addition, Detective Clayton Stamper testified that Mullins and Stines were seen on their phones in surveillance video. He also testified that Stines attempted to call his juvenile daughter from his cellphone, along with Mullins’ phone, just before the shooting. Those phones have been sent to a forensic lab for data retrieval, but Stamper did confirm that Stines’ daughter’s number was in Mullins’ phone.
Detective Stamper also testified that Mullins and Stines went to lunch at a restaurant near the courthouse the day of the shooting and that Mullins was heard asking Stines, “Do we need to meet private in my chambers?”
The judge sent the case to a grand jury who will decide whether to indict Stines.
Stines has been in jail since the shooting and announced his retirement effective Monday.
Crime
