PRESTONSBURG, Ky. — The day that many people in Floyd County and across Eastern Kentucky have been waiting for has finally arrived, as arrests were finally made in the murder of Amber Spradlin.
Spradlin’s body was found June 18, 2023, in the Martin home of Prestonsburg dentist Michael McKinney. She had sustained at least 11 stab wounds to her neck and head.
Her death sparked an outcry from the community and sparked an online Facebook group devoted to demanding answers in the case. The Justice for Amber group currently has more than 25,000 members.
On Tuesday, a grand jury returned three indictments in the case. McKinney, 56; his son, Michael “M.K.” McKinney III, 24, of Martin; and Josh Mullins, 23, of Martin, were all charged with seven counts of complicity to tamper with physical evidence. M.K. McKinney was additionally charged with Spradlin’s murder.
M.K. McKinney was arrested in the Rowan County community of Clearfield, Michael McKinney was arrested at the Brickhouse Restaurant, and Mullins was arrested at McKinney’s dental office in Prestonsburg. All three are scheduled to be arraigned on the charges at 3 p.m., Wednesday, in Floyd Circuit Court.
The indictments allege a complicated scheme to conceal the crime. The seven counts of evidence tampering allege the three concealed the handle of the knife used to kill Spradlin, destroyed the clothing M.K. McKinney was wearing, cleaned Spradlin’s blood from the kitchen sink and the laundry room, destroyed a surveillance camera that would have captured the murder, destroyed a digital video recorder with the footage from the surveillance cameras, and destroyed a hard drive from the only computer in the home with information about the surveillance cameras.
The news was welcomed by Spradlin’s family. Her cousin, Dr. Debbie Hall, thanked Commonwealth’s Attorney Brent Turner, Kentucky State Police and the Justice for Amber group for their efforts in bringing about the arrests.
Floyd Circuit Judge Johnny Ray Harris has recused himself from the case. Pike Circuit Judge Eddy Coleman has been assigned as special judge to oversee the trial.
Turner released a statement following today’s indictments and arrests. His full statement is as follows:
“The Floyd County grand jury returned indictments today against three individuals for numerous charges arising from the June 18, 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. Det. 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 six 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 investigation, 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 in 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 in our power to obtain justice for Amber. That has been my objective from day one, and from that we will not waver.”
The full indictments are reprinted below, with the exception of identifying information of the grand jury foreman:
This story is still developing. Stay tuned to the Mountain Top News for continuing updates on this case.
