Star News to appeal court's block on publishing Covenant shooter’s writings

Tennessee Star CEO Michael Patrick Leahy and media group Star News Digital Media, Inc. (SNDM) on Thursday said they would appeal Chancery Court Judge I’Ashea L. Myles’s ruling that blocked the release of Nashville's Covenant School shooter.

Audrey Elizabeth Hale fatally shot six people, including three children, at a school in Nashville in March of 2023. Hale was also killed by police. Hale is biologically female, but identified as male. 

"We have appealed the very bad decision by TN Chancery Court Judge Myles to prohibit the release of the Covenant killer’s writings on the dubious claim of copyright ownership by intervenors," Leahy posted to X. "We will win on appeal."

Shortly after the shooting, media outlets sought the release of the shooter's manifesto, but families of the shooter's victims, along with the school, claimed that the manifesto and other writings should not be released to avoid copycats, per ABC News 9.

Myles sided with the Covenant Children’s Trust in her ruling last month, after they claimed to have the copyrights for Hale's journals and writings, according to the Tennessee Star. There has been a dispute over who owns the journals, because Hale did not leave a will that outlined who gets possession. But Hale's parents, Ronald and Norma Hale, claimed they have the rights to the property, which they then gave to the Covenant Trust. 

“It was a very bad decision. The judge made a very bad mistake by accepting a very dubious copyright claim by the intervenors who should’ve never been allowed to intervene in the case," Leahy said after the initial ruling. "We will win the appeal because this novel, ludicrous theory, will not stand the test of appeal.”

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.