Kentucky sheriff resigns after being charged with killing judge at courthouse

A Kentucky sheriff charged with killing a local judge in the latter man’s judicial chambers resigned Monday.

Shawn Stines, 43, the sherriff in Letcher county, Kentucky, allegedly shot state court judge Kevin Mullins, 54, in the local courthouse on 19 September.

The motive for the killing is unclear. Stines stepped down as Kentucky’s governor, Andy Beshear, threatened to remove him from office.

The decision to step down was not related to the murder charges Stines faces, his lawyer said.

“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,” his lawyer said in a statement to NBC News.

Stines has pleaded not guilty to the first-degree murder charge against him. State police have said that Stines and Mullins had lunch before the deadly shooting and had gotten into an argument.

The shooting also took place days after Stines was deposed in a federal investigation involving a deputy who pleaded guilty to raping a female prisoner. An attorney for Stines has denied any wrongdoing in connection with that lawsuit.

“The community is small in nature, and we’re all shook,” the Kentucky state police trooper Matt Gayheart said at a news conference on the day of the shooting. Gayheart added: “We know that it was an argument between the two that led up [to it] – but exactly what transpired prior to the shots being fired, those are still things we’re trying to get answers to.”