UPDATE, 2:30 p.m.: Donald Kyle Deskins has now been arrested. He is being held without bond in the Pike County Detention Center.
PIKEVILLE, Ky. — A Pike County attorney has been charged in his wife’s murder, nearly 2-and-a-half years after her death.
Donald Kyle Deskins, 54, of Kimper, who currently serves as the city attorney for Elkhorn City and formerly worked in the Pike County Attorney’s Office, is charged with murder and two counts of tampering with physical evidence.
According to the indictment, Deskins allegedly killed his wife, Judith, on April 24, 2021. The indictment says she died of blunt force trauma.
The indictment also alleges that Deskins altered evidence at the scene on the day his wife died, as well as the following July, when he altered a laptop before he turned over to police as evidence.
If convicted, Deskins faces a sentence of either between 20 and 50 years or life in prison for the murder charge, and 1-to-5 years for the tampering charges.
Due to Deskins’ legal connections in Pike County, 24th Circuit Commonwealth’s Attorney Floyd Anthony Skeans, of Paintsville, is serving as special prosecutor in the case. Likewise, 31st Circuit Judge Johnny Ray Harris, of Prestonsburg, has been appointed special judge in the case.
A warrant has been issued for Deskins’ arrest.
