District Judge Kevin Mullins was shot and killed in his chambers after an argument, police say.

A Kentucky sheriff has been arrested after fatally shooting a judge in his chambers, police say.

District Judge Kevin Mullins died at the scene after being shot multiple times in the Letcher County Courthouse, Kentucky State Police said.

Letcher County Sheriff Shawn Stines, 43, has been charged with one count of first-degree murder.

The shooting happened on Thursday after an argument inside the court, police said, but they have not yet revealed a motive.

  • KeraKali@lemmy.world
    103·
    2 months ago

    I was seriously hoping that the title was poorly worded and a sheriff did not, in fact, murder a judge inside a courthouse. But what the actual fuck.

      • Death_Equity@lemmy.world
        468·
        2 months ago

        Well, I can’t blame him if she is underage. If that is the case, sheriff did his duty as a father and an officer of the law in order to uphold the law and do right by his kid, so long as the judge did violate the sheriff’s child.

        Woodchipper feet-first for the lot of them, judicial firearm use is too kind.

        • jonne@infosec.pub
          29·
          2 months ago

          Out of all people you’d expect a sheriff to be able to navigate the legal system to get the guy locked up without landing in prison himself. Provided this is real, obviously.

          • ryathal@sh.itjust.works
            91·
            2 months ago

            Seriously, just pull them over and shoot them for going for a gun. It’s honestly harder for a cop to get in trouble for shooting someone.

        • Phoenixz@lemmy.ca
          231·
          2 months ago

          I’m sorry, no. No, no, no.

          Don’t care what the reason is, we don’t do vigilantism. If someone diddles your daughter it’s not your fatherly duty to murder and get jailed. It’s your fatherly duty to ensure the fucker is locked up by law and that your daughter will be taken care of, THAT is your duty.

          Leave vigilantism to Hollywood movies

          • WoahWoah@lemmy.world
            4·
            2 months ago

            When immoral crimes go unpunished due to a corrupt legal system, violence often follows. That judge isn’t the first, nor will be the last, to learn that claiming to be “above the law” offers no real protection. A fair and functional legal system is essential for a less violent society. When justice isn’t applied equally, violence rises. Laws don’t prevent violence—they only punish it afterward. I imagine many people’s last words were some version of “too bad, because that’s illegal.”

          • Hawk@lemmynsfw.com
            2·
            2 months ago

            Based on my experience with how the law deals with victims of child sexual assault, I think all we have is vigilantism.

            This would happen multiple times before it’s stopped and this is only challenged by the power position of the assailant.

            It’s not great, but, in my experience, sexual assault is not taken very seriously, unfortunately.

        • FanBlade@lemmynsfw.comEnglish
          16·
          2 months ago

          I see what you’re saying but I do think it’s important to mention his duty as a father is to be there for his kid and extrajudicial “justice” means this father will be in jail causing further trauma for his kid and severely restrict his ability to be a father.

        • BrundleFly2077@sh.itjust.works
          162·
          2 months ago

          I can respect the commitment to the bit that it must have taken to delete criticalthinking.ini entirely from your brain, but I can’t bring myself to respect even an iota of what it’s turned you into. You broke yourself, dude.

    • meco03211@lemmy.world
      112·
      2 months ago

      Another comment mentioned an accusation of diddling the sheriff’s daughter. Even if that’s demonstrably and unequivocally false, Republicans would latch onto that for their virtue signaling.