Chilling surveillance footage of the second former Letcher County Sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines shot and killed District Choose Kevin Mullins in his chambers was performed throughout a preliminary listening to Tuesday.
Letcher County Sheriff Mickey Stines, 43, fatally shot District Choose Kevin Mullins, 54, final month.
Stines turned himself in with out incident and was charged with first-degree homicide.
The Gateway Pundit beforehand reported that Sheriff Stines was deposed in a federal lawsuit for failing to research claims that Ben Fields, a deputy who labored as a jailer on the courthouse, sexually assaulted two feminine inmates inside the choose’s chambers.
Ben Fields was indicted on seven felony counts and one misdemeanor for sexually assaulting no less than two girls. Fields was sentenced to 7 years however will solely spend 6 months in jail and the opposite six and a half years on probation for rape, sodomy, perjury, and tampering with a prisoner monitoring system.
“The ladies claimed Fields instructed them he wouldn’t make them pay for the monitoring if they might do him “a favor.”
Fields disabled the units, instructed the monitoring firm that bail situations had been modified so the units weren’t required, after which used threats of arrest to drive the ladies to have intercourse with him. When Letcher Circuit Choose James W. Craft II requested Fields for GPS coordinates for one of many topics for a court docket look, Fields stated he couldn’t find her and filed an escape cost towards her, court docket information present,” The Mountain Eagle reported.
On Tuesday, Stines appeared earlier than the court docket wearing a jail uniform, arms cuffed, as prosecutors introduced key proof linking him to the homicide of his long-time good friend, Choose Mullins.
Stines, who formally resigned from his place as sheriff simply in the future prior, is accused of gunning down the district choose in what the protection is suggesting was an act of “excessive emotional disturbance” somewhat than premeditated homicide, CNN reported.
Protection lawyer Jeremy Bartley admitted that Stines did shoot Mullins however claimed the previous sheriff was not in a rational way of thinking on the time.
“I feel they’ve established possible trigger for manslaughter first, however not homicide,” Bartley argued.
A chilling 20-second surveillance footage was performed within the court docket. Choose Mullins was seen crouching behind his desk in an try to protect himself as Stines fired a number of rounds.
In a remaining, devastating second, Stines, who had begun to depart, returned and fired further pictures upon noticing motion from Mullins underneath the desk.
Though solely a brief section was proven, Kentucky State Police Det. Clayton Stamper confirmed that the total surveillance recording, which was not performed in court docket, captured a for much longer and disturbing interplay between the 2 males.
Earlier than the capturing, Stines and Mullins had shared a lunch with a number of others, and based on witnesses, no seen rigidity arose in the course of the meal.
Nonetheless, Stamper famous that an unsettling remark was made in the course of the lunch, with Mullins reportedly asking Stines, “Do we have to meet personal in my chambers?”
A essential second got here after the 2 males returned to Mullins’ chambers. The detective testified that Stines, after making an attempt to name his daughter from his personal telephone, requested to see the choose’s telephone.
Mullins complied, and solely seconds later, Stines stood up and commenced firing.
“I used to be instructed that Sheriff Stines had tried to name his daughter, and he had tried to name his daughter from the choose’s telephone additionally,” stated Stamper, who verified that telephone information confirmed calls had been made to Stines’ daughter’s cellular phone from the choose’s telephone.
It stays unclear what Stines noticed on the choose’s telephone that triggered the deadly capturing.
After the capturing, Stines surrendered to legislation enforcement with out resistance. The detective recalled Stines making a complicated comment upon his arrest.
“When he was taken into custody, I used to be instructed by one of many different officers there that he made the remark, ‘They’re making an attempt to kidnap my spouse and child,’” he stated.
“Principally, all he stated was, ‘Deal with me honest,’” Stamper added.
WATCH:
NEW: Girl bawls in court docket as video footage of Kentucky sheriff Shawn Stines okay*lling Choose Kevin Mullins is proven.
Stines is accused of m*rdering his longtime good friend after seeing one thing on his cellphone.
New particulars reveal that after Mullins and Stines had lunch collectively, the… pic.twitter.com/qyQe6kPj1g
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) October 1, 2024
