The former brother-in-law of a Kentucky judge, who was shot dead allegedly by a sheriff in his chambers, has spoken out about how ‘kind’ he was toward his children who are now mourning their uncle.
Matt Butler, who is a commonwealth attorney for Letcher County, remembers Kevin Mullins, who was shot dead on Thursday, as being ‘hilarious’ to be around.
‘I always thought he was very witty,’ Butler said in an 11-minute Facebook video. ‘He was fun to be around outside of court.’
The former brother-in-law remembers how Mullins had ‘endless patience’ when it came to kids.
‘[My children] lost their uncle. My beautiful nieces have lost their father,’ he said.
Mullins, 54, was killed on the second floor of the Letcher County Courthouse around 3pm on Thursday after an alleged argument with Letcher County Sheriff, Shawn ‘Mickey’ Stines, 43, who allegedly shot the judge multiple times.
District Judge Kevin Mullins died at the age of 54 after allegedly being shot died on Thursday by Letcher County Sheriff Shawn ‘Mickey’ Stines, 43
Matt Butler, who is a commonwealth attorney for Letcher County, remembers Kevin Mullins as having ‘endless patience’ and was always ‘kind.’
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‘Got shots fired on the second floor,’ the 911 dispatcher told police. ‘362 needs to be en route to the Letcher County Courthouse.’
A motive for the shooting remains unclear, but video from the judge’s office shows the two men looked at each other’s phones before Stines opened fire, sources told The Mountain Eagle.
Butler said the courthouse is ‘one of the last that you can walk into without a metal detector or security at the front door.’
‘This is unacceptable in 2024, it was unacceptable when I started in 2007,’ Butler said in the video. ‘We deserve better. we should have a safer courthouse.
‘Everyone in our courthouse should feel safe at work. I know that is not the case right now.’
The shooting caused the government building and nearby schools to be shutdown.
Despite the devastating news, Butler remembers the old days when him and Mullins argued legal points ‘on the opposite side of the courtroom’ during the time before Mullins was a district judge.
‘He was the assistant commonwealth attorney when I was the public defender. We had fierce litigation,’ Butler recalled. ‘I respected him. We fought hard for our respected sides in court and tried cases against each other before he was the judge.
A motive for the shooting remains unclear, but video from the judge’s office shows the two men looked at each other’s phones before Stines (pictured) opened fire
Butler said the courthouse is ‘one of the last that you can walk into without a metal detector or security at the front door’
‘We never had a disagreement outside the courtroom, we have always got along.’
The lawyer and the Commonwealth Attorney’s Office has ‘recused’ the case due to Butler’s ‘close personal relations’ with Mullins, as is customary. Butler also had a close relationship with Stines.
In addition, one of Butler’s employees was in the judicial chambers at the time of the shooting and is expected to be called as a witness.
The Attorney General’s Office will take over the case, with the Kentucky State Police investigating.
Stines has been charged with first-degree murder and surrendered to police without incident.
Residents of the small sleepy town were rattled by the deadly shooting, including County Clerk, Mike Watts, who said the pair were planning on getting lunch together just hours before the shooting occurred.
The pair were friends, Watts said, and when he went to get paperwork signed by Watts earlier that day and Stines was there, he didn’t think much of it. He said the only odd thing was Stines was quieter than normal, he told KCRA.
‘It’s just so sad. I just hate it,’ he said of the shooting. ‘Both of them are friends of mine. I’ve worked with both of them for years.’
Like Watts, many were shocked to hear Stines is potentially behind the deadly shooting as he’s known around town as a ‘family man.’
‘I know Mickey’s character. And I know there had to be something that did it,’ Patty Wood, the widow of District Judge Jim Wood – Mullins predecessor – told the outlet. ‘You couldn’t find a better person on the face of the earth than Mickey Stines. I don’t know what happened.
‘I just cannot believe that he just went in and shot him for no reason.’
Jennifer L. Taylor, a Whitesburg attorney, said Stines was gearing up to retirement and had mentioned he might go to law school.
She said the officer ‘took his time’ to listen to people. Others remembered how the sheriff took efforts to combat the opioid crisis.
However, Stines was deposed on Monday in a lawsuit that was filed by two women. One woman, Sabrina Adkins, accused Ben Fields, a deputy, of forcing her to have sex inside Mullins’ chambers for six months to avoid jailtime as she couldn’t afford to buy an ankle monitor.
The women accuse the Sheriff’s Office of having a ‘deliberate indifference in failing to adequately train and supervise’ Stines.
The former deputy, Ben Fields, previously pleaded guilty to raping a female prisoner while she was on house arrest, according to KCRA.
Stines has been charged with first-degree murder and surrendered to police without incident
Stines fired Fields.
Video footage of the shooting, which hasn’t been publicly released, allegedly show Stines entering the courtroom and asking to speak to Mullins privately before they headed to the judge’s office.
After a short conversation, Stines reportedly stood up to lock the door and each man then took their cellphone out and handed it to the other, The Mountain Eagle reported.
Stines, a father-of-two, then allegedly drew his weapon, walked around the judge’s desk and shot him repeatedly as Mullins fell to the floor.
‘We know that it was an argument between the two that led up, but what exactly transpired prior to the shots being fired, that’s still things that we’re trying to get answers to,’ said Kentucky State Police Trooper Matt Gayheart.
Mullins was appointed to serve as a judge in the state’s 47th district under former Governor Steve Beshear in 2009.
Mullins was appointed to serve as a judge in the state’s 47th district under former Governor Steve Beshear in 2009
He oversaw juvenile matters, city and county ordinances, misdemeanors, traffic offenses, arraignments, felony probable cause hearings, claims involving $2,500 or less, civil cases involving $5,000 or less, voluntary and involuntary mental commitments and domestic violence cases, according to a Letcher County website.
Mullins also gained recognition for his efforts to treat those with drug addiction rather than incarcerate them, starting a program in 2010 that allowed inmates with substance abuse disorders to enroll in inpatient treatment as a condition of pretrial release.
He was previously an assistant commonwealth attorney for nine and a half years, focusing on drug-related offenses.
Stines, meanwhile, was elected sheriff in 2018 and reelected in 2022.
DailyMail.com has reached out to the Kentucky State Police, who is investigating, for comment.