A lawyer for the Kentucky sheriff accused of fatally shooting a judge in his chambers announced the law enforcement official’s retirement Monday after the state’s governor threatened to remove him from office.
In a statement, the lawyer for Shawn “Mickey” Stines, 43, said the decision was effective immediately and was not a concession to the first-degree murder charge Stines faces in connection with the Sept. 19 shooting of Letcher County District Judge Kevin Mullins at a courthouse in Whitesburg.
“Rather, Sheriff Stines has made this decision to allow for a successor to continue to protect his beloved constituents while he addresses the legal process ahead of him,” said the lawyer, Jeremy Bartley.
In a letter dated Wednesday, the general counsel for Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear told Stines he had until Friday to resign or face removal proceedings under a state law that allows governors to fire peace officers for neglect.
Stines pleaded not guilty to the murder charge last week.
A spokesman for the Kentucky State Police, which is investigating the shooting, has said the shooting occurred after an argument. The agency has not identified a possible motive in the killing.
Stines was deposed three days before the shooting over a 2022 federal lawsuit that accuses a Letcher County deputy of sexually abusing a woman in Mullins’ office, a lawyer for the plaintiff in the case has said.
The suit alleged that Stines failed to adequately train and supervise the deputy.
In a filing, a lawyer for Stines said that he was protected from being sued in connection with the allegations because of his position as an elected official and law enforcement officer.
Asked if state police are investigating a possible link between the lawsuit and the shooting, a spokesman for the agency said last week that investigators had ruled out nothing as a possible motive.
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