The sheriff charged with murder in the shooting of a rural Kentucky judge in his courthouse chambers was accused in a federal lawsuit of failing to investigate allegations that one of his deputies repeatedly sexually abused a woman in the same judge's chambers.

Residents of a tiny Appalachian town are struggling to cope with a shooting involving two of its most prominent citizens: a Kentucky judge who was gunned down in his courthouse chambers and the local sheriff charged with his murder.

Investigators are trying to determine why a Kentucky sheriff allegedly shot and killed a district judge after they argued inside the judge’s chambers, according to Kentucky State Police. District Judge Kevin Mullins,