A Kentucky sheriff who shot and killed a prominent district judge in his chambers will be indicted Wednesday

Wednesday is the scheduled arraignment for the Kentucky sheriff who, according to the authorities, shot and murdered a well-known district judge in his chambers after a dispute between the two men last week.

Shawn M. Stines, 43, the sheriff of Letcher County, was taken into custody at the county courthouse in Whitesburg on Thursday. It is suspected that Stines shot and killed District Judge Kevin Mullins, 54, within Mullins’ chambers.

During the arraignment on Wednesday morning, Stines, who the authorities claim turned himself in after the killing, will be seen on camera from the Leslie County prison, which is where he’s being kept a few counties west of where he was sheriff and the judge was slain. According to court authorities, the judge will hold the hearing at a Carter County courtroom, some 100 miles away from the murder site. The Letcher County courthouse has been shuttered for days due to the homicide.

The Kentucky Sheriff’s Association claims that Stines’ duties included overseeing judge safety as well as security at county courthouses. It’s unknown who will succeed him as sheriff while he faces a first-degree murder accusation.

Letcher County is a tiny, close-knit town that has been profoundly affected by the tragedy. Residents are still trying to figure out what exactly happened before the two prominent political leaders got into an altercation, which has shocked the whole county.

Authorities are still looking into what happened in the judge’s chambers just before the deadly shooting that afternoon. Trooper Matt Gayheart of the Kentucky State Police said that while there were other persons on the premises when the judge was shot, no one else was in his chambers.

All witnesses will be questioned, according to Gayheart, who emphasized that this is the first time a disaster “of this magnitude” has struck the county. There were cameras inside the building.

Hours before the incident, Circuit Court Clerk Mike Watts told media report affiliate WKYT that Stines and Mullins had lunch together.

Watts told WKYT, “The whole county is just devastated by this,” acknowledging the gap in the local legal system. “In addition to our district judge and sheriff, we also lost two personal friends that I worked with every day.”

As media reports previously reported, Stines was deposed on September 16, only days before the shooting, in a federal case that is still pending and involves a former deputy who forced a woman to have sex with him in 2021. The complaint claims that Sheriff Stines, who dismissed the officer in 2022, “did not appropriately investigate the sexual allegations against the deputy.”

A violent altercation between two guys “I felt like brothers,” the county attorney claims.

Numerous locals were familiar with the two well-known individuals, and acquaintances of the judge and sheriff expressed their shock at the murder and difficulty in comprehending its cause.

When police got a 911 call shortly before 3 p.m. on Thursday reporting gunfire from within the courtroom building, the otherwise uneventful and calm day in court suddenly descended into chaos, according to state police.

According to Matt Butler, the commonwealth’s attorney for Letcher County, court security officer Wallace Kincer and circuit court clerk Watts acted quickly upon learning of reports of an active shooter in the courthouse, escorting lawyers and staff away from an unidentified threat that may have been hiding in the chambers.

Just before 3:30 p.m., pupils at Letcher Area Public Schools were put on lockdown, sending shivers across the area.

Mullins was discovered with many gunshot wounds and was declared dead at the scene, according to the police.

Butler said in a statement last week that he and the judge married two sisters and that their children behave more like siblings than cousins; therefore, they withdrew themselves and their office from the sheriff’s case.

Butler said on social media, “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.”

As special prosecutors on the case, Jackie Steele, the Commonwealth’s Attorney assigned to the case, would collaborate with the office of Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman, he said.

Butler is among the locals who are demanding more security measures at the courthouse, such as the installation of a metal detector and increased guards at the door.

Butler deemed it “unacceptable” and said, “The Letcher County Courthouse is one of the last that you can walk into without a metal detector or security at the front door.”

According to his obituary, Mullins is survived by his wife and two kids. According to the obituary, “He passed away in his chambers of the courthouse, where he spent his career working to help people.”

According to his obituary, Mullins was “a passionate advocate for recovery efforts across Kentucky,” working to confront the opioid crisis by helping individuals impacted by mental illness, disabilities, and drug use disorders get access to treatment.