Sheriff’s Daughter Claims She Never Knew Slain Judge — Yet Investigators Found Her Number Saved in His Phone

The daughter of a former Kentucky sheriff accused of killing a district judge denied having any relationship with the slain judge, according to grand jury transcripts.

Letcher County Sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines has been charged with murder in the killing of 54-year-old District Judge Kevin Mullins in the judge’s chambers in the city of Whitesburg on Sept. 19, 2024.

The killing was captured on video and showed Stines firing at Mullins multiple times while the judge was sitting at his desk, and again firing after Mullins fell to the floor.

Kentucky State Police Detective Clayton Stamper testified to a grand jury about speculation in the community involving Mullins and Stines’ teenage daughter.

According to grand jury transcripts, Stamper testified that Stines’ daughter “denied any allegations of having any contact whatsoever” with Mullins, including through social media, text messages or phone calls.

“By social media, by text, by phone, in person; any kind of contact whatsoever, she denied it,” Stamper said. “That was all just a rumor.”

Stamper also testified that investigators found no prior cellphone calls between Mullins and Stines’ daughter.

Stamper testified that there were also “rumors” about Stines’ wife “having some kind of relationship” with Mullins and “she denied those allegations.”

According to grand jury transcripts, Stamper testified that Stines used Mullins’ phone to call his daughter prior to the shooting.

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“Sheriff Stines used Judge Mullins’ phone while he’s sitting in the chair in front of Judge Mullins’ desk to call his own daughter,” Stamper testified. “(Stines) used the judge’s phone to call (his daughter).”

Stamper testified there was no phone contact “whatsoever” between Mullins and Stines’ daughter.

At an earlier preliminary hearing, Stamper testified that Stines’ daughter’s number appeared on the judge’s phone, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported.

A portion of the grand jury testimony was released on Sept. 3 as part of the defense’s brief in support of a motion to dismiss the indictment. A judge sealed the testimony the same day.

After the shooting, Stines walked out of the courthouse and then turned around and walked back and surrendered to law enforcement.

“Sheriff Stines walked in right behind [law enforcement] and he said basically words to the effect of, there’s nobody else, it was me,” testified Stamper, per the grand jury transcripts. “He takes his pistol out and he lays it on a table that’s just to the right of the doorway just inside the courthouse.”

Stamper testified that Stines allegedly then said, “He made a statement like, they’re trying to kidnap my wife and kid, or something like that, to one of the officers, so they take him in custody at that time, he’s handcuffed.”

Stines’ attorneys acknowledge that he pulled the trigger and plan to present a defense of insanity and extreme emotional disturbance.

“We’re confident that there will be evidence that his mental health was impaired,” defense attorney Jeremy Bartley previously told PEOPLE. “It’s a tragic situation all around.”

The case has rocked the small community of Letcher County, Ky., where Stines and Mullins were longtime friends and colleagues. Stines served as the bailiff in Mullins’ court before Stines became sheriff in 2018, per the Louisville Courier Journal.