Kentucky town mourns judge as questions swirl about argument police say led up to his killing and sheriff’s arrest

By Dalia Faheid, CNN

(CNN) — As residents of a small town in southeast Kentucky mourn the loss of a prominent district judge , they're looking for answers about the argument that authorities say led up to his killing inside the judge's chambers and the sheriff's arrest in his death.

Letcher County Sheriff Shawn M. Stines , 43 – a man whose role made him responsible for judges' personal security – fired at District Judge Kevin Mullins, 54, inside the Letcher County courthouse in Whitesburg Thursday, according to Kentucky State Police. After the shooting, Stines was arrested at the courthouse and is now facing a first-degree murder charge, authorities said.

But what transpired in the judge's chambers moments before the fatal shooting that afternoon is still unclear – leaving the town of under 2,000 people to question what could have triggered the killing involving two fixtures of the local criminal justice system.

Earlier that day, Mullins and Stines had lunch together down the street from the courthouse, according to Circuit Clerk Mike Watts.

"The judge and Sheriff had ate lunch together ... I saw them earlier," Watts said in an interview with CNN affiliate WKYT .

Then a few hours later, there was an argument between the two men inside the judge's chambers, a preliminary investigation revealed.

After the heated conversation, a 911 call reported shots fired on the second floor of the courthouse just before 3 p.m., then the district judge of 15 years was found with multiple gunshot wounds and pronounced dead, Kentucky State Police said.

Letcher County's sheriff of eight years is being jailed in Leslie County and his first court appearance is scheduled for September 25 before a judge in Carter County, said Jackie Steele, the Commonwealth's Attorney assigned to the case. CNN is trying to determine whether Stines has an attorney.

The killing shook the tiny town of Whitesburg – with a population of 1,711 people – leaving them without their sheriff or district judge.

"The whole county is just devastated by this," Watts said. "We've not only lost our sheriff and district judge, but I've lost two personal friends that I worked with daily."

In Kentucky, sheriffs are responsible for security at courthouses – including the personal security of judges – according to Jerry Wagner, a retired sheriff who is now the executive director of the Kentucky Sheriff's Association .

"We have 120 sheriffs that work on a daily basis with our judges. We work more closely with them than any other elected officials," Wagner told CNN Friday. "No one saw this coming."

A funeral for Mullins is scheduled for Sunday afternoon in Jenkins, Kentucky, according to Hall and Jones Funeral Home. In remembrance of Mullins, flags at all Kentucky Court of Justice facilities will be lowered to half-staff through Monday.

"If you knew Letcher County, you would know that families stay tightly connected at all times and pull even more tightly together during times of unspeakable tragedy like today," said Matt Butler, commonwealth's attorney for the county.

Mullins is survived by his wife and two daughters, his obituary states. "He died in his chambers of the courthouse where he spent his career working to help people," the obituary says.

As "a passionate advocate for recovery efforts across Kentucky," Mullins worked to address the opioid epidemic by providing access to treatment and helped those affected by substance use disorders, mental illness and disabilities, according to his obituary.

'We're all just in shock'

In Letcher County, "we all know each other," Butler said. That's why the killing involving two high-profile elected officials sent shockwaves through the community, and left friends of both the sheriff and judge struggling to understand why it had happened.

Butler recused himself and his office from the sheriff's prosecution because he and the judge married two sisters and their children act more like siblings than cousins, he said in a statement Thursday evening. Butler added that he had a "close professional relationship" with both Mullins and Stines, he said in a video statement on Facebook Friday.

"Our community has suffered an act of violence that appears to be between two men that I have worked with for seventeen years and loved like brothers," Butler said in a social media post.

Another friend of the sheriff and judge, Watts, said he's hoping Kentucky State Police "provide some answers on why" the violent act happened, because "maybe that will be able to help us all heal."

"It's just unimaginable. I don't know what happened. Or what the reason was," Watts said. "The entire community, we're all just in shock."

Ben Gish, the editor of Mountain Eagle, a local weekly newspaper, told CNN "none of us could imagine anything like this happening in this day and time," but the impact of the tragedy will be long-lasting.

"I can't imagine the scar this will leave on our community," Gish said.

In the aftermath of the killing, Whitesburg residents are grieving the death of Mullins, who had a "passion for helping others," the obituary said. He helped develop a program that links people involved with the justice system to treatment services, according to his obituary. In 2022, The Supreme Court appointed Mullins to the Kentucky Judicial Commission on Mental Health, where he worked to improve the court's approach to behavioral health.

"His colleagues deeply respected him and his loss will be profoundly felt throughout Kentucky's court system," the obituary said.

For Butler, he'll always remember Mullins as a family member who was "fun to be around," he said.

"We have always got along. I always thought he was hilarious. I always thought he was very witty," he said in the video statement.

Kentucky police search for motive

Kentucky State Police are investigating how the deadly shooting unfolded and what the argument leading up to it was about. To do that, they'll be looking at footage from cameras inside the courthouse and interviewing all witnesses who were in the building, Kentucky State Police Trooper Matt Gayheart said.

"We know that it was an argument between the two that led up – but what exactly transpired prior to the shots being fired, those are still things that we're trying to get answers to," Gayheart said at a Thursday evening news conference.

This is the first time a tragedy "of this magnitude" has afflicted the county, Gayheart said.

Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman's office will work with commonwealth's attorney Steele as special prosecutors on the case, he said in a statement Thursday . "We will fully investigate and pursue justice," Coleman said.

As a result of the shooting, circuit and district courts, as well as the office of the circuit court clerk, will be closed until operations can resume, the Kentucky Administrative Office of the Courts said Thursday.

Once the courts reopen, a retired judge will temporarily take over district court cases until a Judicial Nominating Commission selects Mullins' replacement, spokesperson Jim Hannah told CNN Friday.

On Monday, just days before the shooting, Stines was deposed in an ongoing federal lawsuit involving a former deputy who coerced a woman to have sex with him in 2021. The lawsuit alleges the sexual allegations against the deputy "were not appropriately investigated by Sheriff Stines," who fired the deputy in 2022.

Jonathan Shaw, the attorney representing Stines in his official capacity in the lawsuit, told CNN in an email he did not have the authority to speak on Stines' personal behalf in the federal suit or the murder case.

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CNN's Michelle Watson, Zoe Sottile, Sarah Dewberry and Andy Rose contributed to this report.