By Chandler Wilcox and Buddy Forbes
Published: Jul. 30, 2024 at 2:39 PM EDT|Updated: Jul. 30, 2024 at 8:35 PM EDT
PRESTONSBURG, Ky. (WYMT) - Three people have been arrested in connection to the Amber Spradlin murder case.
Spradlin was killed in the home of Prestonsburg dentist and business owner Dr. Michael McKinney June 18, 2023. Since then, her family and community has been rallying for justice. Tuesday, they received a move in that direction when Kentucky State Police filed indictments for three men they believe to be involved in the murder.
Dr. McKinney and Josh Mullins, of Martin, were both arrested and taken to the Floyd County Detention Center Tuesday. McKinney’s son, Michael Kent “MK” McKinney was arrested in the Morehead area and taken to the Rowan County Detention Center.
According to indictments, police believe MK, “committed the offense of murder when he intentionally killed Amber Spradlin by repeatedly stabbing her with a knife.”
The indictments go on to say all three men were involved in tampering with the handle from the murder weapon and the clothes he was wearing, as well as claiming he either alone, or with help, cleaned Spradlin’s blood from the kitchen and laundry room sinks. He is also considered complicit in destroying a surveillance camera, digital video recorder, and a hard drive with the footage from that night.
MK McKinney is charged with murder and seven counts of complicity to tampering with physical evidence.
Dr. McKinney and Josh Mullins are also charged with seven counts of complicity to tampering with physical evidence.
They are expected to be arraigned in Floyd County Wednesday afternoon.
Spradlin’s family hosted a news conference at the Floyd County Courthouse Tuesday afternoon, saying they almost lost hope they would ever see this day come.
“For the past 408 days, our family has waited for the arrest of those responsible for Amber’s death and those responsible for the attempted coverup of murder,” said Amber’s cousin, Debbie Hall. “Finally, our community can feel relieved knowing that those responsible will soon face a jury of their neighbors.”
Hall continued, saying she believes there are others who have not been charged, and some who will only be involved in civil cases for what she considers their involvement in the case.
“Each of them need to know that they will have to live with what they did to put into motion the events which resulted in Amber’s death,” Hall said.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Brent Turner released a statement, saying he is unable to discuss the details of the case beyond the information included in the indictments but wants to make sure the facts are clear.
“The Floyd County grand jury returned indictments today against three individuals for numerous charges arising from the June 18th, 2023 murder of Amber Spradlin. I am ethically prohibited from discussing the details of the case beyond what is contained in the indictments at this time, but I would like to clear up some of the questions, confusion, and skepticism the public has understandably had about the investigation of this case.
First and foremost, I want to dispel the suggestion that the investigation was in any way affected by politics or the status of any suspects involved. Nothing could be further from the truth. Detective Justin Wireman and every officer from the Kentucky State Police who have been involved with this investigation have worked tirelessly to seek justice for what occurred here. They have spent countless hours getting this case to where it is today and are to be commended.
Everyone in my office has done the same. In my 24 years as Commonwealth's Attorney, there is nothing I have taken more seriously than my obligation to treat every criminal defendant the same no matter who they are. There is nothing worse that you could ever say about me as a prosecutor than to suggest that I would treat a defendant differently based on their status, money, or political connections. I have worked hard for my entire career to demonstrate my commitment to fairness and integrity in how we prosecute cases. I'm confident that anyone who is actually familiar with how we do things can attest to that fact.
The public has understandably questioned why it took so long to present this case to a grand jury, but the entire reason for the delay is the KSP forensic lab’s inability to complete tests quickly. This is due to the tremendous backlog they have from handling all forensic testing for the 400 different police agencies in the state who send evidence there. The reason for this backlog is that they are severely understaffed because our legislature will not fund them properly. It often takes 18 months to get a single DNA test result back. We had to move heaven and earth to get the results we’ve received as quickly as we did. This is not a criticism of any of the forensic scientists working at the lab. They are extremely talented people working themselves to death for much less money than they deserve. They simply do not get the financial support they need, and our legislature should be ashamed. If you are as troubled by this as those of us in law enforcement are, then let your elected officials in Frankfort know that this is not acceptable. It’s been this way for decades, and it has to change.
This case involves an extremely large amount of evidence requiring forensic testing. And we could not ask a grand jury to make decisions about such serious charges without forensic test results that would be critical to making such a decision. No grand juror would be comfortable voting to indict people on such serious charges without forensic test results that could literally change who they indicted or whether they indicted anyone at all.
We started receiving test results over the last 6 months. But some of the most critical items sent for testing were only completed within the last few weeks. While there are still numerous items awaiting testing, we felt that there was finally sufficient evidence for the grand jury to review the case, and they have done so. Because there are still other tests pending and due to the ongoing nature of the investigatin, it is always possible that the grand jury could consider additional charges in the future.
It’s also important to note that indictments are only charges, and every criminal defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty. And this is as it should be. We don’t try people on Facebook or the newspaper. We try them in a court of law. And that is exactly what my office intends to do. We will vigorously prosecute this case and do everything within our power to obtain justice for Amber. That has been the objective from day one, and from that we will not waver.”
Friends and family say they are hopeful that the nightmare will soon be over and those involved will tell the truth about what happened that night.
Hall said the beautiful thing that came in wake of the tragedy was the community that has rallied behind Justice for Amber since day one, building it up to a community of more than 25,000 supporters.
“These friends of Amber will not be satisfied until the jury marches back into the courtroom with a verdict of guilty against those involved,” she said.
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