Judge Rules Nashville School Shooter's Writings Can't Be Published Because Victims' Families Have Copyright

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The writings of the person who killed three 9-year-olds and three adults at a private Christian elementary school in Nashville last year cannot be made public, a judge has ruled.

Chancery Court Judge I'Ashea Myles ruled that the children and parents of Covenant School own the copyright to any writings or other works created by shooter Audrey Hale, a former student killed by police. As part of an effort to keep the records confidential, Hale's parents transferred ownership of Hale's property to the victims' families, who then argued in court that they should be allowed to determine who has access to it.

Myles acknowledged that claiming copyright as an exception to Tennessee’s public records law was a novel argument that previous courts had not ruled on. Ultimately, she agreed with the parents’ group, holding that “the original writings, journals, artwork, photographs and videos created by Hale are subject to an exception to TPRA created by federal copyright law.”

The decision, issued shortly before midnight Thursday, comes more than a year after several groups filed requests for access to records seized by Metro Nashville police during their investigation into the March 2023 shooting. Those killed were Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney, all 9, and adults Cynthia Peak, 61; Katherine Koonce, 60; and Mike Hill, 61.

Interest in the documents comes in part because Hale, who police say was “assigned female at birth,” may have identified as a transgender man, and some experts have speculated that the diaries reveal a planned hate crime against Christians.

The victims’ families released statements praising the decision Friday. Cindy Peak’s family wrote: “The last year and a half without Cindy has been difficult. But today, our family feels some relief. To have deprived the shooter of some of the notoriety she sought by exposing her vile and unfiltered thoughts to the world is an outcome for which everyone should be grateful.”

According to court filings, the shooter left behind at least 20 diaries, a suicide note and memoirs. When requests for access to the documents were denied, multiple parties filed lawsuits, and the situation quickly degenerated into a confusing mix of conspiracy theories, leaked documents, estate battles and accusations of ethics violations. Myles’ order will almost certainly be appealed.

In addition to copyright claims, Covenant's parents argued that releasing the documents would be traumatic for the families and could inspire copycat attacks.

Myles found that the risk of imitation was real and “very concerning”.

“Hale drew on the writings of other perpetrators of similar crimes to develop and execute his plan, imitating some not only in their methodology but also in their choice of weapons and targets,” Myles wrote. “Hale even presented past perpetrators as heroes, idolizing them.”

The Associated Press is among the groups that requested the documents but did not participate in the trial.

Deborah Fisher, executive director of the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government, warned that Myles' decision could have far-reaching implications, making it easier to hide evidence of a crime from the public.

“To say that evidence collected by the police can be protected by the copyright of the criminal, the surviving parent or the spouse of the criminal, does not bode well for transparency in the police or the justice system,” she said.

Fisher believes this will lead to a system in which selective evidence is released, as was the case in the Covenant case. First, pages from a newspaper were leaked to a conservative commentator who posted them on social media in November. More recently, the Tennessee Star published dozens of articles based on 80 pages of Hale’s writings, provided by an anonymous source. The publication is among the plaintiffs, and Myles briefly threatened to sue the newspaper’s editor, Michael Leahy, and its owner, Star News Digital Media, for contempt of court.

While Myles' ruling shields many documents created by Hale from public disclosure, other documents in the police file can be released once the case is officially closed, provided they fall under Tennessee's open records law.

The lead plaintiff's attorney in the case did not immediately respond to the ruling.

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This article has been corrected to show that The Associated Press was not involved in the trial.