Southeast
Sheriff’s defense in judge murder could depend on deposition in separate case: report
Former Letcher County, Kentucky Sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines pleaded not guilty on Monday in the murder of District Court Judge Kevin Mullins in the same courthouse where the lawman opened fire upon the jurist in September.
Attorney Jeremy Bartley said Monday that Stines has a “compelling defense” lined up to justify the shooting of his longtime colleague in his office, the Courier-Journal reported.
The timing of the sheriff’s deposition in a sex abuse-related lawsuit earlier that month is “certainly something that’s going to be crucial in this case,” Bartley added, according to the newspaper.
“I do believe that that is a piece,” Bartley said after Monday’s court proceedings, which lasted about five minutes. “This is a large story. It’s a story that, in some ways, is difficult to tell. We look forward to sharing a more complete version of that as we go through this judicial process.”
SHERIFF ALLEGEDLY GUNS DOWN JUDGE IN HIS OWN CHAMBER IN EXECUTION CAUGHT ON VIDEO; INDICTMENT RETURNED
Shawn “Mickey” Stines during a preliminary hearing at Morgan County District Court on Oct. 1, 2024. (Scott Utterback/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
Prosecuting Attorney Jackie Steele declined to comment when asked if he thought the deposition factored into the shooting, but said that he does not expect Stines to face any additional charges beyond murder of a public official. He told the outlet that it is still too early to know whether he plans to pursue the death penalty in the case.
The lawsuit in question was filed by two women, one of whom alleged that Letcher County deputy Ben Fields forced her to perform sexual favors inside the same judge’s chambers where the shooting took place, where there were no cameras. The woman, who was on house arrest, accused the deputy of repeatedly sexually assaulting her for six months in exchange for staying out of jail.
Stines was accused in the suit of “deliberate indifference in failing to adequately train and supervise” Fields, who was convicted on state charges and spent several months in jail. That litigation is pending.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs in that case said Stines’ deposition lasted several hours, and that they were surprised by the shooting, according to the Courier-Journal.
Ned Pillersdorf, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiff, told the outlet that he’s heard varying opinions on whether the deposition is connected to the Sept. 19 shooting. His co-counsel took the deposition, he said, and recalled that Stines had an “odd demeanor” throughout.
KENTUCKY SHERIFF CHARGED IN JUDGE’S MURDER DID NOT PLAN KILLING, CAUGHT IN ‘HEAT OF PASSION’: LAWYER
Former Letcher County Sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines can be seen pointing his gun at District Court Judge Kevin Mullins. (Letcher County Handout)
Stines was denied bond on Monday. Bartley said they planned to file a motion for adversarial bond, but told the outlet that it was “unlikely” to be successful.
Retired Judge Julia H. Adams, who was appointed to serve as special judge in Stines’ case, told the outlet that she decided not to grant the former sheriff bond after “significant consideration,” citing the capital offense charge as a key factor in her decision.
Defense attorney Jeremy Bartley asked questions of KSP Detective Clayton Stamper at Shawn “Mickey” Stines preliminary hearing at Morgan County District Court. Oct. 1, 2024 (Scott Utterback/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
Stines pleaded not guilty on Sept. 25. He formally resigned as sheriff at the end of September after receiving a letter from Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Kentucky General Counsel S. Travis Mayo urging him to do so. He is being held two counties away at Leslie County Jail, police said.
It is still unclear what motivated the former sheriff to pull the trigger.
KENTUCKY SHERIFF CHARGED WITH FATALLY SHOOTING JUDGE DEPOSED IN RAPE-RELATED CASE DAYS EARLIER
District Judge Kevin Mullins, 54, was killed by Letcher County Sheriff Shawn M. Stines, 43, in his judge’s chambers, authorities said. (Kentucky Court of Justice ;Letcher County Sheriff’s Office)
Kentucky State Police Det. Clayton Stamper testified at the preliminary hearing that the two men had eaten lunch together with a group in the hours before the shooting, the Courier-Journal reported.
According to Stamper, Stines attempted to call his daughter on his own phone, then on Mullins’ phone.
“Our investigators seized the two cellphones, and they’re being analyzed,” Kentucky State Police Trooper Matt Gayheart previously told the Daily Mail.
“I was told that the judge made a statement to Mickey about, ‘Do we need to meet private in my chambers?’” Stamper testified, The Associated Press reported.
NEW VIDEO SHOWS KENTUCKY SHERIFF POINTING GUN AT JUDGE BEFORE ALLEGED FATAL SHOOTING
Former Letcher County Ky. Sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines looks over at the prosecutors during his arraignment at the Morgan County Courthouse in West Liberty, Ky., Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. Stines is accused of killing District Judge Kevin Mullins. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)
“It could be, but I don’t know that for a fact,” Stamper said when asked whether Stines was motivated to shoot Mullins based on what he saw on the judge’s phone.
“I talked to him, but he didn’t say nothing about why this had happened,” Stamper said, according to the AP. “But he was calm… Basically, all he said was, ‘Treat me fair.’”
When Stines was taken into custody, he allegedly told another officer, “they’re trying to kidnap my wife and kid,” Stamper said.
Bartley previously told People that the shooting “was not something that was planned and occurred in the heat of passion.”
“For us, the highest level of culpability should be manslaughter based on the partial defense of extreme emotional disturbance,” Bartley said.
The shooting in the city of Whitesburg has shaken the community of Letcher County, Kentucky, where Stines served as a bailiff in Mullins’ court before becoming sheriff in 2018.
“We’re all in a state of shock over it,” Garnard Kincer Jr., Mullins’ friend and former mayor of Jenkins, told People. “It practically immobilized us. We just can’t believe it happened.”
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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene will appear on CBS News’ “60 Minutes” ahead of her expected departure from Congress next month.
On Friday, “60 Minutes” teased the interview with Lesley Stahl that will air Sunday, touting Greene’s first sit-down interview since she announced her exit last month.
Greene shocked the political landscape when she revealed she would leave Congress Jan. 5. Many believe her abrupt exit was the result of her soured relationship with President Donald Trump.
MARJORIE GREENE SAYS TRUMP’S ‘TRAITOR’ LABEL COULD PUT HER LIFE IN DANGER
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., will appear on Sunday’s installment of “60 Minutes,” marking her first interview since she announced her exit from Congress in January. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Greene previously sat down with Stahl in April 2023, when the two had a fiery exchange over the congresswoman’s claim that Democrats are the “party of pedophiles.”
“They are not pedophiles. Why would you say that?” Stahl exclaimed.
“Democrats support — even Joe Biden, the president himself — supports children being sexualized and having transgender surgeries. Sexualizing children is what pedophiles do to children,” Greene said.
“Wow,” Stahl reacted.
MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE STUNS ‘60 MINUTES’ HOST LESLEY STAHL WITH ‘PEDOPHILES’ ATTACK ON DEMOCRATS: ‘WOW’
“60 Minutes” correspondent Lesley Stahl sighed during a tense exchange she had with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., over her claim that Democrats were the “party of pedophiles” in an April 2023 interview. (Screenshots/CBS News)
JIMMY KIMMEL WELCOMES FORMER TRUMP ‘SUPERFAN’ MTG TO ‘REALITY’ AMID ONGOING FEUD
The Georgia lawmaker, once an outspoken Trump supporter, has been on a media tour that has included multiple CNN hits and an appearances on CBS News and ABC’s “The View,” largely focused on her criticism of the Trump administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files and her criticisms on healthcare and foreign policy in recent months.
There had been speculation that Greene’s feud with Trump stems from reports that he had privately discouraged her from running for Senate in 2026 amid polling that suggested she’d be defeated by Georgia’s Democratic incumbent Sen. Jon Ossoff, D. Greene denies those claims.
In a lengthy statement posted to X, Greene cited her growing disillusionment with Washington politics, blasting what she called a corrupt “Political Industrial Complex” that she said uses Americans as “pawns in an endless game of division.”
“Americans are used by the Political Industrial Complex of both political parties, election cycle after election cycle, in order to elect whichever side can convince Americans to hate the other side more,” Greene wrote. “And the results are always the same — nothing ever gets better for the common American man or woman.”
President Donald Trump withdrew her endorsement of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., previously one of his most outspoken supporters. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)
Greene said she “never fit in” in Washington and was leaving Congress to “fight for the people of this country in a different way.”
“I believe in term limits and do not think Congress should be a lifelong career or an assisted living facility,” Greene wrote. “My only goal and desire has ever been to hold the Republican Party accountable for the promises it makes to the American people and put America First, and I have fought against Democrats’ damaging policies like the Green New Deal, wide open deadly unsafe border policies, and the trans agenda on children and against women.”
She made her announcement days after Trump withdrew his endorsement for her, calling Greene “wacky” and “a ranting lunatic.”
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Southeast
Rev. Franklin Graham delivers Kentucky flood survivors new homes for Christmas: ‘We can finally breathe’
Standing in the snow on an eastern Kentucky mountaintop Friday, Rev. Franklin Graham dedicated 18 newly constructed homes in Jesus’ name to families who lost everything in the region’s catastrophic 2022 floods. It was a moment survivors described as the first real breath of relief they’ve had in three years.
“This is Franklin Graham,” he says in an exclusive video to Fox News Digital. “Terrible floods here a few years ago just destroyed hundreds of homes. Well, today we are dedicating 18 houses that are finished and ready for people to move in.”
The homes are part of the new Chestnut Ridge subdivision, a 57-lot neighborhood built from scratch by Samaritan’s Purse and an army of volunteers.
“We’re grateful to God,” Graham added. “We couldn’t do this without the partners who provided land, the finances, the volunteers. These people are going to be in their homes for Christmas.”
CHIP CARTER MARVELS AT BIPARTISANSHIP HE WITNESSED AT HABITAT FOR HUMANITY, FATHER’S FUNERAL
Rev. Franklin Graham shares a lighthearted moment with Paul Johnson, a home recipient who can now register for a lung transplant with a permanent address after years of being displaced from flooding. (Courtesy of Samaritan’s Purse)
Flood survivor Lora Honycutt described the moment she stepped into her new house in a raw, unfiltered way captured on video.
“When I walk in this house here … the floors are not sinking,” Honeycutt said, wiping her eyes. “Even the smell is different. … I can’t describe the feeling.”
She added through tears, “These are happy tears. … These are happy tears.”
Video clips showed families breaking down as they crossed thresholds, their first structurally sound homes since the deadly floods destroyed entire communities three years ago.
For Paul Johnson, the dedication was life-changing. When the floods wiped out his home, he lost the permanent address required to stay on his lung transplant list.
“I was taken off the list when I moved into an RV. After today, I can get back on the transplant list,” Johnson said. “This home exceeds anything I expected. It’s beautiful. I feel very blessed. It’s a great day.”
SAMARITAN’S PURSE RACES TO HELP JAMAICA AFTER CATEGORY 5 HURRICANE MELISSA DESTRUCTION: ‘NOT BEEN FORGOTTEN’
The Chestnut Ridge subdivision in eastern Kentucky has 18 homes for survivors of 2022 floods that devastated the region. (Courtesy of Samaritan’s Purse)
The Chestnut Ridge homes have two, three or four bedrooms with one notable exception. A family with 10 children has the only home in the new subdivision with five bedrooms after spending 1,128 nights crammed into two campers since losing everything in the floods.
“We were thankful to have a place to lay our heads,” the mother said, “but it was aggravating. We were all on top of each other.”
Looking around her new five-bedroom home, she couldn’t hold back.
“We’re so dumbfounded, I don’t know what to do,” she said. “We can breathe.”
A SEASON OF HOPE: T2T’S GIFT OF INDEPENDENCE AND DIGNITY FOR INJURED HEROES
Rev. Graham of Samaritan’s Purse and dedicated 18 homes in eastern Kentucky for survivors of 2022’s deadly floods. (Courtesy of Samaritan’s Purse)
Former U.S. Ambassador Kelly Craft and her husband, Joe, the CEO of coal mining company Alliance Resource Partners, donated the land on which the new neighborhood was built.
Graham also praised employees at the Lowe’s in Hazard, Kentucky, some of whom volunteered on construction crews.
Samaritan’s Purse has now constructed nearly 100 homes across Kentucky, from tornado-ravaged Mayfield to the devastated communities of the east.
Crews are also rebuilding in North Carolina, which continues to reel from Hurricane Helene.
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As snow fell across the mountaintop, Graham prayed over families receiving their brand-new houses, no longer haunted by the memories of 2022’s floods.
“We give God the glory, and we praise Him and, of course, these people are going to be in their homes for Christmas,” Graham said as he looked over the row of new homes.
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Southeast
Wounded National Guardsman beginning to ‘look more like himself,’ remains in acute care: West Virginia gov
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The National Guardsman who was injured after being shot last week in Washington, D.C., is starting to “look more like himself,” West Virginia’s governor said, relaying a message from his parents.
Gov. Patrick Morrisey provided the update Friday evening before attending a prayer vigil in Andrew Wolfe’s honor at Musselman High School in Berkeley County, W.Va., where the recovering 24-year-old graduated from, according to WUSA9.
“His parents report that his head wound is slowly healing and that he’s beginning to ‘look more like himself,” Morrisey said in a statement.
“Overall, the family expects that Andy will be in acute care for another 2-3 weeks but have been optimistic about his progress,” the Republican governor added. “We continue to ask all West Virginians and Americans for their prayers! They are making a difference!”
AFGHAN EVACUEE ARRESTED BEFORE DC SHOOTING FEDERALLY CHARGED WITH THREATENING TERROR ATTACK
The family of National Guardsman Andrew Wolfe, inset, are “optimistic about his progress” after he was shot last week in Washington, D.C., West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey said Friday. In the background, on Dec. 4, 2025, the flag on the south lawn of the White House flies at half staff in honor of Sarah Beckstrom of the West Virginia National Guard, who was killed in the attack. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images; Department of Justice)
The vigil began Friday with a moment of silence for National Guard member Sarah Beckstrom, a 20-year-old who was killed in the Nov. 26 shooting, WUSA9 reported.
Speaking about Wolfe, Morrisey said, “You are not alone. South Berkeley stands with you, and West Virginia and the whole country are praying for you,” the station added.
During an appearance on “Fox & Friends” on Friday, Attorney General Pam Bondi described Wolfe as a “miracle” who is now “able to open both eyes.”
SENATE REPUBLICANS DEMAND VETTING OVERHAUL AFTER SHOOTING OF NATIONAL GUARD MEMBERS
Undated file photo of Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the suspect in the shooting of two National Guard soldiers in Washington, D.C. (Provided by Department of Justice)
“Please continue to pray for Andy. I saw Andy. I’ve met with his mom. I talked to his mom constantly, Melody. His dad, Jason. He has a sister, a brother, an eight-month-old niece. They’re all in the hospital with him,” Bondi said Friday.
“He’s a miracle. From day one, his mother, Melody said, ‘My son is going to live. My son is going to be 100%.’ And I can say this because the parents let me. I was there when the doctors all came in the room after they had done an angiogram. He has no blood clots. He’s a miracle. And now he’s able to open both eyes,” Bondi added.
People gather on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, for a vigil in Webster Springs, W.Va., in honor of National Guard member Sarah Beckstrom, one of two National Guard members who were shot in Washington, D.C. (Kathleen Batten/AP)
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The suspected shooter is Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national. He faces charges of first-degree murder and two counts of assault with intent to kill while armed.
Fox News Digital’s Stephen Sorace and Alexandra Koch contributed to this report.
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