Prosecutors ask judge to delay high-profile Spradlin murder trial once again
Prosecutors have sought another delay in the murder case against a Floyd County man accused of killing Amber Spradlin in 2023, citing ongoing delays in forensic DNA testing, which could postpone a trial that was set to get underway next month.
Meanwhile, attorneys representing Michael “M.K.” McKinney III, 26, his father, Michael K. McKinney II, 58, and a third co-defendant, Josh Mullins, 25, are scheduled to sit down for court-ordered mediation Wednesday to settle the murder allegations against the younger McKinney and eight counts of tampering with evidence against all three defendants.
A representative for Spradlin’s family told the Herald-Leader they are willing to settle for 50 years in prison without the possibility of parole for M.K. McKinney and lesser sentences for his father and Mullins, especially if they agree to cooperate. But the family does not expect the parties will reach a settlement, said Debbie Hall, Spradlin’s cousin.
Felony mediation was supposed to be the final step before a jury trial. The high-profile Eastern Kentucky murder case has dragged on for years after police discovered Spradlin, 36, stabbed to death in June 2023 on property owned by the elder McKinney, then a prominent Prestonsburg dentist.
Instead, commonwealth’s attorney Brent Turner said forensic testing has still not been completed for all the evidence police collected from the scene and he won’t be ready to present a case by the May 11 trial date. A Pike Circuit Court judge already delayed the trial once due to an evidence backload at the Kentucky State Police crime lab in Frankfort.
A restaurant hostess, Spradlin was raised by her grandparents after her own mother was murdered when she was young. Her violent killing shocked the community and has continued to attract attention and calls for police reform as the investigation drags on.
In court documents filed March 11, prosecutors said there is little reason for the judge to deny their motion for continuance because all the defendants have since been released on bail.
Over the strong objections of Spradlin’s family, M.K. McKinney was released from jail after posting nearly half a million dollars in bail late last year.
An attorney for McKinney could not be reached for comment Monday.
Spradlin’s family isn’t discouraged by delays in the case so far, however.
“We’ve waited so long, a few more months is not going to matter so that we can get justice for Amber,” Hall said.
It took police more than a year to bring charges against M.K. McKinney, his father and Mullins, a family friend, even though police said they had evidence placing all three men and Spradlin at the McKinney home the night she was killed. M.K. McKinney was indicted on murder charges in July 2024, and all three men are accused of cleaning up the scene and disposing of clothes and the murder weapon before police arrived.
The case has captured state and national attention, both because of the prominence of the defendants charged and because Spradlin’s family claims inaction on the part of local officials.
Her family has filed a civil suit accusing the city of Prestonsburg, its police department and the Floyd County Fiscal Court of negligence after a 911 call placed before the stabbing allegedly went unanswered. M.K. McKinney is alleged to have placed that call when his father intervened. A subsequent call the local dentist made to the then-city police chief was unreported.
Only after a second 911 call was placed did first responders come to the scene, the suit claims.
