PRESTONSBURG, Ky. — Court records provide additional information about the allegations against a woman who was arrested during a court hearing for a Floyd County woman charged with murder.
It all happened during a preliminary hearing for Summer Adkins, 22, of Prestonsburg, who is charged with murder for the June 9 shooting death of her father, Jimmy Harvey, 62, of Prestonsburg.
Shortly after the hearing, Harvey’s sister, Tammy Adkins, 61, of Harold, was seen being taken away in handcuffs.
During the hearing, witnesses testified that Summer Adkins had been sexually abused as a child. Police said she told them she shot her father because she had learned he had allegedly been doing the same thing to a young relative. She was ordered to be released from jail and held under home incarceration.
But police say that development resulted in a chilling threat from Tammy Adkins.
Due to the emotional nature of the charges, the hearing was considered high-risk, and 14 police officers and sheriff’s deputies were posted in the courtroom. Once the hearing ended, family members were escorted from the courtroom by officers, and that is when the police report says Tammy Adkins made her threat.
A sheriff’s deputy wrote in his report, as Tammy Adkins entered the elevator, she told him she was glad Summer Adkins was getting out of jail, “because now when she leaves work, she can get her brains shot out.”
Tammy Adkins was arrested and charged with retaliating against a participant in the legal process. The charge is a felony, punishable by 1-to-5 years in prison.
During her arraignment Tuesday morning, she was ordered released on a $10,000 surety bond. She was further ordered to have no contact with Summer Adkins or be within 1,000 feet of her, and not to have any firearms in her possession.
Tammy Adkins will be back in court Wednesday, June 25, for a preliminary hearing.
A grand jury will consider whether to proceed with the prosecution of Summer Adkins on murder or other charges.
