Nashville Judge I’Ashea Myles caused an uproar among transparency advocates earlier this month, when she decided that evidence left behind by trans school shooter Audrey Hale should be kept secret. Judge Myles accepted the dubious argument that Hale’s victims have copyrights to the material—even though the victims haven’t registered with the federal copyright office.
But why are the victims’ families pushing so hard to keep the evidence secret? The Tennessee Star suggested on Wednesday that Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where Hale was treated for more than two decades, might be behind the push for secrecy.
The Star said it contacted attorney Ed Yarbrough, who works at the Spencer Fane firm and represented the Covenant Children’s Trust, to ask whether his client, the Covenant School or Covenant Presbyterian Church were approached by VUMC.
“The Star additionally asked Yarbrough whether VUMC made any financial payments or other form of settlement with the Covenant Children’s Trust or if it was aware of any arrangements between VUMC and the Covenant School, Covenant Presbyterian Church, or any family members of Hale’s victims,” the newspaper reported Wednesday.
“Yarbrough told The Star, ‘Not able to comment.’”
Hale began receiving treatment at Vanderbilt University Medical Center on April 23, 2001, when the shooter was just six years old.
While there, at one point Hale told psych workers about “recent thoughts of going into a school and shooting a bunch of people,” according to The Star, which cited an internal police report that described documents seized from Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
According to The Star, Nashville police may be investigating VUMC staff members for failing to report Hale’s warning signs.
Hale, a 28-year-old woman who was identifying as a man at the time of the mass shooting, gunned down three Christian children and three adults before being killed by law enforcement. In the subsequent investigation, officials discovered the manifesto in Hale’s apartment.
Public interest and concern over what drove the trans mass shooter’s rage has led to intensified calls for the release of the manifesto, which reveals in chilling details what Hale had planned.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
