Amber Spradlin murder trial in limbo as court weighs forensic testing delay
– 8 min read
According to the prosecutor on the case, the DNA testing won't be complete by the December trial date. But defense attorneys are pushing to take the case to court on time.
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A Pike Circuit Court hearing Thursday will decide whether the December trial of Michael "M.K." McKinney III should be postponed while forensic testing continues- a request the defense is vigorously fighting.
The case has been marked by tension between the prosecution's need to complete DNA analysis and the defendant's constitutional right to a speedy trial. McKinney has been held on $5 million bond since his July 2024 arrest in connection with the 2023 death of Amber Spradlin.
What happened to Amber Spradlin
According to Kentucky State Police, 38-year-old Amber Spradlin was found dead at a home in Eastern Kentucky on June 18th, 2023. Police believe she was killed overnight on June 17th.
The State Medical Examiner confirmed Spradlin died due to multiple stab wounds. Despite obvious foul play, police did not make any arrests for more than a year.
In 2024, Michael 'MK' McKinney III was arrested and charged with her murder. He is accused of stabbing Spradlin several times with a knife at a home in Prestonburg in June 2023.
He is also accused of destroying or hiding the broken knife handle, according to court documents.
McKinney's father, Dr. Michael McKinney II, and Josh Mullins were also arrested and charged, accused of helping MK McKinney cover up the brutal homicide.
The indictment accuses McKinney and the two other men of an elaborate cover-up. According to court documents, they hid or destroyed the clothing they were wearing when the murder happened, cleaned Spradlin's blood from a kitchen sink, and then hid or destroyed the surveillance video, camera, and computer that police allege would have captured the murder in the room where she was killed.
