Shocking new video has emerged showing a Kentucky sheriff pointing a gun at a judge moments before he was shot and killed.
District Court Judge Kevin Mullins died after being shot multiple times in his chambers at the Lechter County Courthouse on September 19.
His friend, local sheriff Shawn ‘Mickey’ Stines, 43, has been charged with his murder after CCTV appeared to show him firing a hail of bullets at the 54-year-old.
He has pleaded not guilty to the murder, which has shocked the small town of Whitesburg.
The stunning photo shows Mullins sitting behind his desk with one hand raised as he appears to try to calm the shooter.
A shocking new photo has emerged showing a Kentucky sheriff pointing a gun at a judge moments before he was shot and killed.
The men had a tense exchange before Stines pulled out his gun.
Mullins cringed as Stines drew his gun, leaning to the side before crouching to try to escape the fire.
Just a few feet away from him, alleged killer Stines can be seen grabbing his gun and pointing it at the judge’s head.
Detectives are investigating a possible motive, but the shooting is believed to have unfolded after Stines discovered his daughter’s phone number in Mullins’ phone.
CCTV footage played in court during a preliminary hearing on Tuesday showed Stines checking his phone before making a call from the judge.
Kentucky State Police Detective Clayton Stamper testified that he was told the sheriff had tried to contact his daughter from both devices.
The harrowing images brought sobs to the public gallery as they showed Mullins’ desperate attempts to protect himself from the barrage of bullets that followed.
Prosecutors said it shows Stines firing eight shots at the judge who tried to hide behind his desk for protection.
Chillingly, the shooter began to leave before stopping with the door on the handle and pushing the desk chair aside to fire a few more bullets at the judge and leave the room.
District Court Judge Kevin Mullins, 54, died after being shot several times in his office on September 19.
Lechter County Sheriff Mickey Stines, 43, is accused of shooting his “friend,” District Court Judge Kevin Mullins.
Stines later surrendered without incident and was described by Stamper as “calm.”
While being arrested for the Sept. 19 shooting, the sheriff urged deputies to “treat me fairly.”
As DailyMail.com exclusively reported last month, just hours before the shooting, the sheriff and the judge, who were longtime friends, shared an outdoor table at the popular Streetside Grill & Bar on Main Street for lunch, just a few hundred meters from the courthouse. .
The couple were lunchtime regulars at the sports bar and on that fateful Thursday they ordered the usual: They both had wings and salad for $13.99.
‘Everything seemed fine between them. There was no clue that anything was wrong,” one of the staff who treated them that day told DailyMail.com.
“You wouldn’t have guessed there was the slightest problem.”
The court heard that Stines had found his daughter’s number on Mullins’ phone and had tried to call his daughter from the judge’s phone before the shooting.
The sheriff wiped his eyes as he listened to testimony Tuesday.
Police allege that Stines entered the judge’s outer office, told court employees he needed to speak with Mullins alone, and then proceeded to shoot him once they entered the inner office.
Stines then emerged with his hands raised and surrendered to the officers, who handcuffed him. He was charged with one count of first-degree murder.
Mullins was appointed to serve as a judge in the state’s 47th District under former Gov. Steve Beshear in 2009. Stines was elected sheriff in 2018 and re-elected in 2022.
The two worked together on drug policy in the rural Kentucky county that has been hit hard by the opioid epidemic.
Police confirmed they are investigating a “sexual scandal” motive, among other leads, in Mullins’ sensational death.
Lurid sexual allegations about married District Judge Mullins began circulating almost immediately after his murder in the small mountain town.
One thing that was certainly lurking on the mind of Stines, who was a 54-year-old judge’s bailiff before becoming sheriff in 2018, was a civil lawsuit against one of his deputies who was convicted and sentenced for rape.
In chilling footage played in the opening minutes of his preliminary hearing Tuesday, Stines repeatedly shot Mullins, 54, as he sat behind his desk.
Stines was elected sheriff in 2018 and re-elected in 2022
Stines and Mullins had worked together on drug policy in the rural Kentucky county that has been hit hard by the opioid epidemic.
The 43-year-old sheriff was accused of failing to properly train and supervise former deputy Ben Fields, who forced a woman imprisoned in her home to have sex in exchange for favors, ironically in Judge Mullins’ chambers.
Fields received six months in jail and six and a half years of probation.
Stamper confirmed in court that Stines’ daughter has been questioned by police. The interview took place in the presence of his mother.
Three cell phones in total are currently in a forensic laboratory being unloaded and will be part of the investigation.