Court is shown footage of Kentucky sheriff killing judge Kevin Mullins, at preliminary hearing on Tuesday

Accused killer, the Lechter County Sheriff Shawn ‘Mickey’ Stines, appeared on CCTV footage inside the inner chamber of his longtime ‘friend’,District Court Judge Kevin Mullins

The shooting happened on Thursday Sept 19, inside the judge’s chambers at the Letcher County Courthouse when the sheriff appeared to snap after a conversation when they pair returned from lunch together

Wrenching clip played in the opening minutes of his preliminary hearing, showed Stines repeatedly shooting Mullins as he sat behind his desk

Mullins cowers behind the desk and chair while Stines continued firing shots – before leaving Stines stops at the door, fires a couple more shots into the judge, before walking out

For possible motive, the court heard Stines had found his daughter’s number in Mullins’ phone, and had tried to call his daughter from the judge’s phone

Stines pled not guilty to first-degree murder, but the judge for the preliminary hearing Tuesday ruled that the case should go to a grand jury

Stines, 43, could face the death penalty if convicted of murder because Mullins, 54, was a public official 

Lechter County Sheriff Shawn ‘Mickey’ Stines, [photo], has been accused of the murder of his longtime ‘friend’, District Court Judge Kevin Mullins inside the latter’s office at the Lechter county courthouse. He’s charged with first-degree murder

Sobs rang out in a small-town Kentucky courtroom Tuesday as footage was played of a local sheriff shooting dead a judge after finding his daughter’s number on the jurist’s phone.  
The video and new details come as the court seeks to determine whether there is enough evidence for Stines to face a grand jury. 
Lechter County Sheriff Shawn ‘Mickey’ Stines, 43, the accused killer, appeared in the CCTV footage inside the inner chamber of his longtime ‘friend’, 54-year-old District Court Judge, Kevin Mullins.

Wrenching clip played in the opening minutes of his preliminary hearing, Letcher County sheriff Shawn Stines is seen repeatedly shooting his friend Judge Kevin Mullins, as he sat behind his desk in his chambers at the county courthouse

Police allege Stines shot Mullins dead at the County Courthouse in Whitesburg  Kentucky on September 19.
In the chilling clip played in the opening minutes of his preliminary hearing, Stines is seen repeatedly shooting Mullins as he sat behind his desk.
The footage further shows Mullins attempting to scramble behind the desk and chair in the corner of the room as Stines continued firing shots. 

In perhaps the video’s most haunting moment, the sheriff appears to be leaving, as his hand is on the door handle, he stops.
Stines next shoves aside the desk chair and fires a couple more shots into Mullins, before eventually walking out of the victim’s office.
As the video was played, sobs could be heard from the public gallery. Two women could be seen comforting one another after viewing the real time clip from the actual murder scene. 

Real time crime scene footage recorded on Sept 19, played in the opening minutes of his preliminary hearing on Tuesday. It shows Sheriff Shawn Stines [standing], firing repeatedly at Judge Kevin Mullins as the latter sat behind his desk

Mullins is seen cowering behind the desk and chair in the corner of the room as Stines continued firing shots, before eventually walking out of the room

Just hours before the shooting, the sheriff and judge, who were longtime friends, shared an outside table at the popular Streetside Grill & Bar on Main Street for lunch, only a few hundred yards from the courthouse.
The pair were lunchtime regulars together at the sports bar and on that fateful Thursday, even ordering the same item from the menu, wings with salad.
‘Everything seemed fine between them. There was no clue that anything was wrong at all,’ one of the staff attending them that day recounts.
‘You wouldn’t have guessed there was the slightest problem.
The surveillance footage showed Stines looking at Mullins’ phone several times and then using his phone and Mullins’ phone to try and call his daughter before the shooting. 

During his first hearing on charges of murdering Judge Mullins on Tuesday, Shawn Stines [holding glasses], is seen wiping his eyes as he listened to testimony on Tuesday. The court heard Stines had found his daughter’s number in Mullins’ phone, and had tried to call his daughter from the judge’s phone

Amid ongoing speculation about a potential motive for the shooting, the court was told that Stines found his daughter’s number in Mullins’ phone, and had tried to call his daughter from the judge’s phone.
Upon discovering his daughter’s number in the phone, he jumped to his feet within ‘seconds’, the court heard. He then opened fire. 
Kentucky State Police Detective Clayton Stamper testified that during the lunch the pair had appeared to argue. ‘I was told that judge made a statement to Mickey about, ‘Do we need to meet private in my chambers?’ That’s all I was told,” Stamper said.
No further background was shared. 
The suspect entered a not guilty plea on a charge of murder. However, the judge determined there was probable cause and allowed the case to proceed to a grand jury. 

Lechter County Sheriff Mickey Stines, 43, is accused of shooting his ‘friend’, District Court Judge Kevin Mullins, 54, at the County Courthouse in Kentucky, shortly after the pair went out for lunch on Sept. 19

Kevin Mullins [photo], had spent 15 years on the bench. He was appointed to serve as a judge in the state’s 47th district under former Gov. Steve Beshear in 2009 

According to Kentucky State Police detective Clayton Stamper, who is the lead investigator on the case, in the moments before the alleged shooting the men appeared to be having a conversation using their mobile phones.
“Stines uses his telephone to make some phone calls, he then borrows judge’s phone and seems to make a call on that, and that led to what you just saw,” Stamper told the court.
The duo had been at lunch earlier in the day with several other friends, one of whom reported that Mullins asked Stines: ‘Do we need to meet private, in my chambers?’
Under cross examination, Stamper was asked whether he has any evidence to suggest this shooting was premeditated.
His response was “No.”

Murder suspect, Letcher County Sheriff Shawn Mickey Stines’ [center], appeared in court via video link from Leslie County Jail, 50 miles from Whitesburg. The court seeks to determine whether there is enough evidence for Stines to face a grand jury, Stines entered a not guilty plea

Asked if there was any evidence so far which would demonstrate the shooting “was not a reaction to what was on that phone.”
Again Det. Stamper’s response was “No.”
The detective testified that Stines’ daughter has been interviewed by police. The interview took place in the presence of her mother.
Three cell phones in total are currently at a forensic lab being downloaded and will form part of the investigation.
Police allege Stines walked into the judge’s outer office, told court employees he needed to speak to Mullins alone, then proceeded to shoot him once they entered the inner office.
Stines then walked out with his hands raised and surrendered to officers, who placed him in handcuffs. He was charged with one count of first-degree murder.

Sheriff Stines [photo], and Judge Mullins, friends for two decades, had worked together on drug policy in the rural Kentucky county that has been badly hit by the opioid epidemic. He has been charged with shooting Mullins 

Mullins was appointed to serve as a judge in the state’s 47th district under former Gov. 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.
Mullins also gained recognition for his efforts to treat those with drug addiction rather than incarcerate them. He started 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. The two law and justice officials reportedly, had been friends for 20 years before the incident.
Stines could face the death penalty if convicted of murder because Mullins was a public official. 

Shawn ‘Mickey’ Stines, [photo], 43, was elected sheriff of Letcher County in 2018 and reelected in 2022. Known by many in his jurisdiction as a conscientious law man, the hope is that the murder trial will shed light on what led to his snapping

Many people in the district 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 described Stines as officer ‘took his time’ to listen to people.
Others remembered how the sheriff took efforts to combat the opioid crisis. 
On the flip side, shortly after the shooting Sheriff Stines was deposed 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 jail time as she couldn’t afford to buy an ankle monitor.