"I wasn't present," Clayton Stamper, lead investigator, said. "But when he was taken into custody, I was told by one of the other officers that were there that he made the comment, 'They're trying to kidnap my wife and kid.

Video shown at the preliminary hearing for the former Letcher County sheriff accused of killing a district judge allegedly showed the deadly shooting.

A Kentucky lawman has stepped down as sheriff of the county where he’s accused of walking into a judge’s chambers and killing him.

The letter, from The Law Office of Jeremy A. Bartley, said that Stines made the "difficult decision to effect his retirement" on Monday ahead of the ongoing legal process.

The sheriff who is charged with the murder of a district court judge in Eastern Kentucky has now retired.Sheriff Mickey Stines pleaded not guilty last week.Stin

He's due to appear in court at 1 p.m. for a preliminary hearing on the heels of announcing his retirement ahead of the ongoing legal process.

Letcher County Sheriff Mickey Stines has been arrested in connection to a shooting at the Letcher County Courthouse on Thursday.

A Kentucky lawman stepped down Monday as sheriff of the county where he's accused of walking into a judge's chambers and killing him in a shooting that stunned

The Letcher County Sheriff has resigned amid allegations that he shot and killed a district judge in the county courthouse. A letter from the Law Office of Jeremy A. Bartley states that Shawn Mickey Stines has “made the difficult decision to effect his retirement as of.

District Judge Kevin Mullins was shot inside the Letcher County Courthouse. Kentucky State Auditor of Public Accounts Allison Ball confirmed Mullins was the shooting victim in a post on social media.

According to the retirement letter submitted to the governor by Stines’s attorney, he says Stines served the people of Letcher County for 22 years.