The former sheriff of Letcher County, Kentucky, Shawn “Mickey” Stines, plans to use an insanity defense in his trial for the fatal shooting of District Judge Kevin Mullins. Court records reviewed by PEOPLE indicate that Stines will argue he was suffering from insanity and extreme emotional disturbance at the time of the incident.
Stines’ defense attorney, Jeremy Bartley, stated that evidence will demonstrate Stines’ mental health was severely impaired. He described the case as a tragic situation for everyone involved.
The shooting occurred on Thursday, September 19, in the judge’s chambers in Whitesburg, Kentucky. A surveillance video allegedly shows Stines firing multiple shots at Mullins while he was seated at his desk and continuing to shoot after the judge fell to the floor.
Three days before the incident, Stines had given a five-hour deposition in a civil lawsuit involving former deputy sheriff Ben Fields. The lawsuit, filed by two women, claimed that Fields pressured them into unwanted sexual encounters in 2021. One woman alleged she was forced to have sex with Fields inside Judge Mullins’ private courthouse office.
Fields later pleaded guilty to third-degree rape, third-degree sodomy, tampering with a prisoner monitoring device, and second-degree perjury in connection with one of the women’s cases, according to the Mountain Eagle.
Attorney Jeremy Bartley suggested that Stines was under extreme stress due to his deposition in the lawsuit. He stated that Stines had been unable to sleep for several days, leading his family and coworkers to intervene and take him to a medical provider the day before the shooting. Witnesses reported that Stines had expressed paranoia and fear for his safety and that of his family.
Authorities have not yet determined a definitive motive for the shooting, which has deeply affected the small community of Letcher County. Stines and Mullins were longtime friends and colleagues, with Stines previously serving as a bailiff in Mullins’ courtroom before being elected sheriff in 2018.
On the day of the shooting, Stines and Mullins had lunch together with several other people, according to testimony from a Kentucky State Police detective during a preliminary hearing in October, reported by the Louisville Courier Journal.
