Michael McKinney Case: Charges, Bond, and Wrongful Death Suit

The Michael McKinney case is a Kentucky criminal prosecution arising from the June 2023 stabbing death of 38-year-old Amber Spradlin, whose body was found inside the Floyd County home of dentist Dr. Michael K. McKinney II. His son, Michael “M.K.” McKinney III, is charged with murder; Dr. McKinney II and a third man, Josh Mullins, are charged with evidence tampering. All three have pleaded not guilty and are scheduled to stand trial on January 11, 2027.¹

Who Is Charged and With What

A Floyd County grand jury indicted all three defendants on July 30, 2024, more than thirteen months after Spradlin’s death.²

Michael “M.K.” McKinney III, then 24: murder and eight counts of complicity to tampering with physical evidence.
Dr. Michael K. McKinney II, then 56: eight counts of complicity to tampering with physical evidence.
Josh Mullins, then 23: eight counts of complicity to tampering with physical evidence.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Arnold Brent Turner is prosecuting the case, which is being heard in Pike County Circuit Court before Special Judge Eddy Coleman after a change of venue from Floyd County.³

What Happened to Amber Spradlin

Amber Nicole Spradlin was a Prestonsburg resident who worked as a hostess at The Brickhouse, a restaurant co-owned by Dr. McKinney II.² On the evening of June 17, 2023, she was at the restaurant before going to the McKinney residence on Arkansas Creek Road in Martin, Kentucky. She was found dead on a couch inside the home on the morning of June 18, 2023, having been stabbed eleven times. The state medical examiner confirmed multiple stab wounds as the cause of death.⁴

Two 911 calls were placed from the home that morning. The first, at 5:52 a.m., described a “belligerent drunk” who had fallen and was bleeding. No emergency responders were dispatched. A second call, placed hours later, reported that Spradlin was dead.⁵

What the Tampering Charges Allege

The prosecution’s theory is that M.K. McKinney killed Spradlin and that his father and Mullins helped conceal the crime. Turner has described the tampering charges as resting on the “proposition that MK was the killer and the co-defendants tampered with the scene to help hide that.”¹

Specific allegations against Dr. McKinney II include concealing the handle of the knife used in the killing, destroying his son’s clothing, cleaning the victim’s blood from a sink and laundry room, and destroying a surveillance camera, a video recorder containing footage, and the home computer’s hard drive.⁶ A related civil lawsuit further alleges that Dr. McKinney II intercepted the first 911 call made by his son and contacted then-police chief Randy Woods before a second call was placed.⁷

Why the Case Has Taken So Long

The delay between Spradlin’s death in June 2023 and the July 2024 arrests came primarily from the Kentucky State Police forensic lab, which serves roughly 400 law enforcement agencies statewide. Turner has called the lab “severely understaffed” because of inadequate legislative funding, saying that a single DNA result was taking approximately 18 months to process.⁸

The forensic backlog has continued to push the trial itself. An initial December 1, 2025, trial date was described by Turner as “ambitious” and passed without trial.⁹ A second date of May 11, 2026, was also postponed. At a pretrial conference, a KSP forensic supervisor testified that testing on 145 items of evidence remained incomplete: 11 of 13 DNA reports were done, but analysis and interpretation on the remaining two were still ongoing.¹⁰ Judge Coleman found it was in the “interest of justice” to wait for the complete forensic record.

Defense counsel for M.K. McKinney told the court: “As I said two years ago, they said they had enough case to convict him. Let’s see what they got. Yet, here we are, still waiting.” He said he wanted the next trial date to be final, “come hell or high water.”¹ Turner argued that proceeding without complete DNA results would be “equivalent to a missing witness” and that because all defendants were out on bond, there was no reason to rush.¹¹

Judge Coleman also raised the possibility of severing M.K. McKinney’s murder trial from the tampering proceedings against his father and Mullins, on the reasoning that the DNA evidence may matter less for the tampering charges. Turner opposed severance, arguing the cases are inextricably linked.¹² No severance decision has been entered.

Where Each Defendant Stands on Bond

Dr. McKinney II was released after his July 2024 arrest on a $250,000 cash bond and placed under home incarceration.¹³ He remained on house arrest for roughly 20 months. In late May 2026, his attorneys asked to end both home incarceration and drug testing, noting he had not faced any new charges. The prosecution did not object, and Spradlin’s family consented, reasoning that continued house arrest would allow McKinney to accrue jail credit that could later reduce a prison sentence if he were convicted.¹⁴ On June 5, 2026, a Pike County judge signed an order ending McKinney’s house arrest while keeping financial bond conditions and random drug testing in place.¹⁵ Mullins was released from house arrest under similar terms on June 10, 2026.¹⁶

M.K. McKinney’s path out of custody was harder. He was initially held on a $5 million cash bond and remained in the Floyd County Detention Center for more than a year while his attorneys argued his right to a speedy trial was being violated by the forensic backlog. A bond-reduction petition to the Kentucky Court of Appeals was denied in February 2025.¹⁷ On December 1, 2025, Judge Coleman revised the bond to $2 million in real property plus $400,000 in cash.¹⁸ McKinney posted bond and was released on December 18, 2025, under home incarceration.¹⁹

Dr. McKinney’s Dental License

The Kentucky Board of Dentistry voted on August 2, 2024, to immediately suspend Dr. McKinney’s dental license while investigating his “competency to practice.” A judge subsequently allowed him to return to work on a limited schedule to manage the business operations of his practice.¹³ The Board lifted the suspension on October 23, 2024, citing his not-guilty plea and compliance with release conditions, while reserving the right to reimpose it if circumstances changed.²⁰

The Wrongful Death Lawsuit and the 911 Question

Separate from the criminal case, Spradlin’s aunt Melissa Samons, as administratrix of the estate, filed a civil wrongful death lawsuit in Floyd County in June 2024. The defendants include Dr. McKinney II, M.K. McKinney III, the City of Prestonsburg, the Prestonsburg Police Department, former Police Chief Randy Woods, former Mayor Les Stapleton, Floyd County Judge-Executive Robbie Williams, and multiple magistrates.⁷

The suit centers on the 911 failure. In December 2022, the Floyd County Fiscal Court had transferred 911 dispatch from the Kentucky State Police to the City of Prestonsburg to cut costs, reducing the annual contract from $298,000 to roughly $165,000.²¹ The complaint alleges the transfer occurred without input from law enforcement, that the sheriff’s office was severely short-staffed overnight, and that calls from outside city limits were not being reliably routed. Mayor Stapleton acknowledged delays in the law enforcement response due to “limited personnel” but denied any delay in dispatch itself.²² Court documents also allege that Chief Woods and his supervisor, Jonathan Pack, had personal connections to the McKinney family.⁵ After Spradlin’s death, the Floyd County Fiscal Court allocated an additional $400,000 to the sheriff’s office to hire more deputies.

Attorneys for the city and county officials have moved for summary judgment on governmental immunity grounds, and the plaintiff is contesting the motion. A civil hearing scheduled for late June 2026 was postponed.

What’s Next

All three defendants have a pretrial conference set for September 17, 2026, with trial scheduled to begin January 11, 2027. All are out on bond: Dr. McKinney II and Mullins with financial conditions and drug testing, and M.K. McKinney III under home incarceration.¹

1
WYMT. Amber Spradlin Murder Trial Postponed Until 2027
2
WEKU. Three Men Charged in 13-Month-Old Murder of Floyd County Woman Amber Spradlin
3
WCHS-TV. New Trial Date Set for 3 Men Charged in Connection With the Stabbing Death of Amber Spradlin
4
Kentucky State Police. KSP Post 9 Press Release
5
WYMT. Wrongful Death Lawsuit Shines More Light on Amber Spradlin Murder
6
DrBicuspid. Update on Dentist Accused of Covering Up Murder
7
WYMT. Lawsuits Filed in Amber Spradlin Murder Case
8
WOWK. Lack of Funding Caused Delays in Amber Spradlin Case, Says Commonwealth Attorney
9
WEKU. Dec. 1 Trial Date Set for Amber Spradlin Murder Case
10
WOWK. Trial in Amber Spradlin Murder Delayed to 2027
11
FOX 56. Forensic Delays May Push Amber Spradlin Murder Trial Back Again
12
WOWK. Judge Suggests Separate Trials for Amber Spradlin Case Defendants
13
Becker’s Dental Review. Kentucky Dentist Arrested in Murder Case Allowed to Continue Managing Practice
14
Lex18. Prosecutors Agree to Ease Bond Conditions for Michael K. McKinney II
15
FOX 56. Judge Grants Home Incarceration Release for Suspect in Amber Spradlin Case
16
WYMT. Another Man Charged in Amber Spradlin Case Released From House Arrest
17
Lexington Herald-Leader. Amber Spradlin Murder Case
18
Mountain Top Media. McKinney, Mullins Lose Bid to Be Freed From Home Incarceration
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Lex18. Man Accused of 2023 Killing of Amber Spradlin Released From Floyd County Jail After Posting Bond
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Mountain Top Media. Board of Dentistry Lifts McKinney’s Suspension
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Lexington Herald-Leader. Floyd County 911 Dispatch Transfer
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WCHS-TV. Prestonsburg Addresses Criticism of Their 911 Operations