Dinosaur-themed challenges invite kids of all ages to participate.

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PRESTONSBURG, Ky. — A Prestonsburg dentist accused of evidence tampering in the murder of Amber Spradlin has formally asked the court to release him from home incarceration and drug testing requirements.

Spradlin’s body was found June 18, 2023, at the Arkansas Creek home of dentist Michael McKinney. McKinney’s son, M.K. McKinney, has been charged with her murder, while both McKinneys and family friend Josh Mullins are charged with multiple counts of evidence tampering for allegedly trying to cover up the crime.

Michael McKinney and Mullins were both released from jail to home incarceration with work release shortly after their indictments. Now, in a motion filed with the court on Thursday, Michael McKinney is asking to be freed of those conditions.

The motion notes that McKinney has been in home incarceration for 21 months with no violations and no new criminal charges. It also says the random drug testing requirements are having a negative impact on his business, since he is required to leave patients waiting for up to two hours when he is called to give a sample.

Attorneys for Michael McKinney and Mullins both said in the last hearing May 11 that they would ask the court to be released from home incarceration and drug testing. Attorneys for M.K. McKinney said they would also ask for an amendment to his release conditions, but did not specify what changes they would seek.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Brent Turner indicated at the same hearing that he would agree to the release of Michael McKinney and Mullins, if the court thought it warranted, but he would oppose any attempt to release M.K. McKinney.

There has been no response yet to the motion.

A copy of the motion follows:

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Experts talk about amount of evidence, processes, reasons for delay, and possible release from home incarceration.

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State Crime Lab employee explains delay in DNA evidence processing.

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PRESTONSBURG, Ky. — A third high-ranking employee has filed suit against Mountain Comprehensive Care Center, claiming she was fired for not following orders to submit false billing codes.

Kristy Stiltner, of Van Lear, filed her complaint May 1. In it, she says she was a 22-year employee of the organization who most recently served as Mental Health Director.

Stiltner makes claims that she was told to engage in improper billing practices in order to generate more revenue for the company. Her claims are nearly identical to allegations made by former Chief Financial Officer Rebeckah Hall and former Regional Billing Coordinator Rachel Williams.

Allegations made by all three women include:

• Billing for services provided at a federally-qualified health center to increase revenue, when services were provided at a different location
• Refraining from engaging with Medicaid and Medicare for inquiries or clarification of charges identified by the CEO as billable
• Billing for services under the credentials of a licensed provider when they were not rendered by a licensed provider, in order to obtain a higher reimbursement rate

In addition to those claims, Stiltner says she was also directed to “bill a certain amount of service per client, regardless if the services were necessary or warranted.”

Hall and Williams made two other claims not made by Stiltner. They include:

• Not correcting billing codes after the Covid pandemic to reflect that services were provided as “audio only”
• Changing billing locations despite being told by the Financial and Billing departments that the action violated state law

Stiltner says after she refused to engage in the fraudulent billing practices, her supervisors placed her in a hostile work environment. Unlike Hall and Williams, who resigned from their positions due to the working conditions, Stiltner remained until she was fired. When she was terminated, she said CEO Promod Bishnoi told her, “This just isn’t working out.”

Prior to that, Stiltner says she received excellence performance reviews, was given pay raises and promotions, and had never received disciplinary action.

Stiltner is seeking compensation for past, present and future mental and physical pain, suffering and anguish; emotional distress; lost wages; medical and hospital bills; retirement and other employee benefits; pre-judgment and post-judgment interest; costs; attorney’s fees; and punitive damages.

Attorneys for Mountain Comprehensive Care did not respond to a request from Mountain Top News for comment. The company has not yet responded to the latest complaint, but has denied the allegations raised in the two previous lawsuits.

A copy of Stiltner’s complaint follows:

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PRESTONSBURG, Ky. — The prosecution in the Amber Spradlin murder case has refuted several claims made by a defense attorney in a court filing, including that a key prosecution witness was given immunity in exchange for his testimony.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Brent Turner filed a response to the request on Monday, saying Roy Kidd has not been offered any deal in exchange for testifying in the case.

Kidd accompanied Spradlin to Seasons Inn and later to the Arkansas Creek home of dentist Michael McKinney on June 17, 2023. The next morning, he discovered Spradlin’s body on a couch in McKinney’s home. She had been stabbed at least a dozen times in the head and neck.

McKinney’s son, M.K. McKinney, has been charged with her murder, while both McKinneys and family friend Josh Mullins are charged with evidence tampering. They have all pleaded not guilty.

In a motion filed April 30, M.K. McKinney’s attorney Steven Romines asked the judge to order Turner to disclose any agreements his office has with Kidd not to prosecute. The motion also makes other claims, such as that Kidd failed a lie detector test and later asserted his Fifth Amendment right to not speak to police.

But Turner says none of those things are true.

“[A]ll the facts alleged in the motion are totally irrelevant, as there has never been an agreement between the Commonwealth, Mr. Roy Kidd or his attorney not to prosecute Mr. Kidd,” Turner wrote. “In fact, Mr. Kidd voluntarily provided states and the polygraph test of his own free will and with the assistance of counsel.”

At a hearing in the case Monday, Romines said he would accept a filing from Turner that there is no agreement as a sufficient response.

The case is currently scheduled to go to trial Jan. 11, with the defendants due back in court Sept. 17 for a pretrial conference.

Copies of Romines’ motion and Turner’s response follow:

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PRESTONSBURG, Ky. — A Floyd County man is facing felony wanton endangerment and other charges, following an incident when he allegedly left a woman and her 5-month-old child on the side of a highway.

The woman showed up at Prestonsburg City Hall on Sunday, asking to speak with police. She said she and her child had been riding in a car with Michael Ousley, 43, of Auxier, to the Prestonsburg Village Shopping Center. She also described Ousley as acting agitated during the drive, saying she believed it was because of her getting a new job.

When they arrived at the shopping center, she was trying to get the baby out of its car seat, when she said Ousley made a sudden U-turn in the parking lot and began driving at a high rate of speed toward the Route 114.

The woman said she repeated asked Ousley to stop because the baby was unbuckled from the car seat, and that he eventually pulled over on the side of the road between Double Kwik and Archer Park.

Once stopped, she said he began trying to hit her. She said she then tried to flee the car and he grabbed her by the hair to stop her, hurting the baby in the struggle.

The woman said she was able to get away and a woman who followed their car after seeing what happened at the shopping center gave her a ride to the police station.

Ousley was later arrested outside his home. He has been charged with felony wanton endangerment, which is punishable by up to five years in prison. He is also facing misdemeanor assault charges and a number of traffic violations.

The post Floyd man charged with endangerment, assault following incident with woman, baby appeared first on Mountain Top Media.

UPDATE, May 7: M.K. McKinney and Josh Mullins have each signed waivers that have now been filed with the court. Copies of the waivers can be found at the bottom of this story.

PRESTONSBURG, Ky. — The judge presiding over the Amber Spradlin murder case is pointing out a conflict of interest between attorneys representing two of the defendants.

Special Judge Eddy Coleman issued an order Wednesday, directing Randall O’Neal, who is one of the attorneys representing M.K. McKinney, and Whitney O’Neal, who represents Josh Mullins.

McKinney is charged with murder for the 2023 stabbing death of Spradlin, while McKinney, Mullins and McKinney’s father, Michael McKinney, also face multiple counts of evidence tampering for allegedly trying to cover up the crime.

Randall and Whitney O’Neal are partners in the O’Neal Law Office out of Richmond and are also married to each other.

Attorneys for M.K. McKinney have consistently objected to attempts to further postpone the trial, while Whitney O’Neal and Michael McKinney’s attorney have said their clients could benefit from a delay.

The fact that the O’Neals work in the same law office and represent clients in the same case who have competing interests about when the case goes to trial poses a problem, Judge Coleman says in his order.

Under Kentucky Rules of Criminal Procedure, they are required to explain the significance of that conflict to their clients and then either step down from the case or produce waivers signed by each defendant allowing them to continue to represent them.

The O’Neals have until a hearing scheduled for Monday to comply with the order.

That hearing will consider a number of pretrial motions, including the motion to further postpone the trial. If no further delay is granted, jury selection will begin on Tuesday.

A copy of the judge’s order follows:

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PRESTONSBURG, Ky. — Two of the defendants in the Amber Spradlin murder case have indicated they are not opposed to another continuance in the trial, leaving only the primary defendant as having objected to further delays.

Spradlin’s body was found June 18, 2023, at the Arkansas Creek home of Prestonsburg dentist Michael McKinney. McKinney’s son, M.K. McKinney, has been charged with her murder, while both McKinneys and family friend Josh Mullins are charged with multiple counts of evidence tampering for allegedly trying to cover up the crime.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Brent Turner filed a renewed motion for another delay last week, saying evidence that could prove critical to the case is still undergoing DNA testing.

In nearly identical responses filed on Tuesday, attorneys for Michael McKinney and Mullins say they are not opposed to another delay and add that having complete results of testing could actually prove beneficial to their clients.

In particular, they say that a bloody handprint found on the couch next to Spradlin’s body and blood found on Michael McKinney’s bedroom door could exonerate their clients if someone else’s DNA is found. They add that such a finding could bolster their alternate theory of the case that Spradlin’s friend, Roy Kidd, should be considered a suspect in her death.

“The Commonwealth’s case is predicated on the theory that Defendant’s statements, actions, behavior and alleged plan to tamper with evidence were undertaken to protect co-defendant ‘M.K. McKinney’ from a murder conviction,” both motions say. “However, the outstanding forensic testing bears directly on that theory. If testing of the blood on the bedroom door or the handprint on the couch reveals the presence of Roy Kidd’s blood, the victim’s blood, or any mixture thereof, such results would be exculpatory and could materially undermine the Commonwealth’s theory. Roy Kidd has provided detailed statements to detectives indicating that he did not touch the ‘dried’ blood on the victim’s body and did not have blood on his hands when he touched the door.”

Attorneys for M.K. McKinney have not filed a response to the prosecution’s latest request for a delay, but were previously the only ones to object when the matter came up during a hearing on April 23.

Special Judge Eddy Coleman has delayed the start of the trial by one day, so that he can hold a hearing to determine whether another delay is warranted. He also ordered the prosecution to produce a witness from the state crime lab to testify about why evidence testing has taken so long and when officials there expect to be finished. Judge Coleman is also entertaining the idea of severing M.K. McKinney’s case from the other defendants, so that he can be tried on schedule and the others can have their cases delayed.

That hearing will take place next Monday. If the request for a continuance is denied, the trial will begin on Tuesday.

The post Two defendants in Amber Spradlin case agree with need for delay, leaving one holdout appeared first on Mountain Top Media.

PRESTONSBURG, Ky. — Monday marked the first of five days that murder suspect M.K. McKinney has been allowed to leave his home in order to meet with his attorneys in Louisville. And while that decision has been widely criticized by some in the community, officials say it does not mean he has been given carte blanche to move freely.

McKinney is charged with murder for the June 18, 2023, stabbing death of Amber Spradlin. He is also charged, along with his father Michael McKinney and family friend Josh Mullins with evidence tampering for allegedly trying to cover up the crime.

On Friday, Special Judge Eddy Coleman agreed to modify the conditions of McKinney’s home incarceration to allow him to travel to meet with his attorneys for trial preparation. The order specifically allows him to travel to the office of Romines, Weis & Young, located at 600 West Main Street in Louisville, between the hours of 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. That includes travel time, which means McKinney would have roughly eight hours each day to meet with attorneys.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Brent Turner said while the order allows McKinney to travel to Louisville and back each day until May 10, he doesn’t believe that is likely.

Turner also said McKinney will still be under supervision. He will be required to wear an ankle monitor with GPS tracking that will allow officials to know if he travels elsewhere.

“And if he tries to remove it or tamper with it in any way, it immediately notifies the authorities,” Turner added.

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