The daughter of a former Kentucky sheriff has decided to speak up about how people online have been talking about her father’s criminal case. Lila Stines is 18 years old, and her father, Shawn “Mickey” Stines, used to be the sheriff of Letcher County.
According to Fox News, he was arrested last year after being accused of killing a local judge named Kevin Mullins. The judge was 54 years old and was shot inside his own office at the courthouse in September 2024.
Lila posted a video on TikTok where she talked about what happened but did not share any details about the actual case. She said she would not get into specifics but wanted to say something to all the people online who have been making content about what happened to her family. Her video got a lot of attention quickly, and people started talking about whether it is right or wrong for internet users to discuss cases like this one.
She had every right to say this
In her video, Lila called out what she described as gossips on the internet. She told them they were taking her pain and making it their pleasure. She said people were turning what happened to real families into something they could laugh about or use for entertainment.
“You are taking my pain and making it your pleasure,” she said on the video. “You’re taking our stories and turning them into big entertainment pieces, jokes.” Lila also pointed out that some people were actually making money off her family’s situation and asked when that became something people thought was okay to do.
“And for that matter, you’re making it, your income. Since when did that become OK? So my advice to the people doing that, get a job. Do something meaningful with your life, and contribute to society in a positive way,” she said.
Lila was pretty direct when talking to the people who have been following her father’s case online. She asked them if they really had nothing better to do with their time than gossip about her family. She told these people they should get jobs and try to do something that actually helps society instead of treating real tragedies like they are just stories for social media posts.
Her father is 44 years old and was caught on camera going into the judge’s office before shooting him. The video from that day was played in court during a hearing back in October 2024.
What the video showed was a man who police said was Stines taking out a gun and shooting Judge Mullins while he was sitting at his desk. After that, the video showed the man walking around to where the judge had fallen on the floor and shooting again.
The judge ended up dying from being shot multiple times, which is what the Kentucky State Police confirmed. Shawn Stines is now facing a charge of first-degree murder and is being held in jail while he waits for his trial to happen. He told the court he is not guilty of what they are accusing him of. This case has gotten attention similar to other murder cases where shocking evidence came out in court.
People who watched Lila’s video had different reactions to what she said. Some people said she was brave for standing up and talking about how all the online attention has hurt her and her family.
Other people were not as supportive and said she was just trying to take attention away from what her father is accused of doing. The case is still making news in Kentucky and across the internet while the court process continues. Stories like this show how tragedy can affect everyday people in unexpected ways.
Published: Oct 31, 2025 09:00 pm