Star News Digital Media, Inc. (SNDM), which owns and operates The Tennessee Star, and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy launched an appeal on Wednesday to reverse Chancery Court Judge I’Ashea L. Myles’s ruling blocking the release of even one page of the writings left by Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale.
Lawyers for SNDM, including America First Legal Foundation attorney Nicholas Barry and attorney Paul Krog, officially filed notice with the Court of Appeals of Tennessee at Nashville that it intends to appeal, making SNDM and Leahy the first plaintiffs to appeal Myles’ July 4 ruling.
Myles (pictured above, left) sided in her decision with the Covenant Children’s Trust, which claimed to own the intellectual property rights to Audrey Hale’s works after they were transferred by her parents, Ronald Hale and Norma Hale, who in turn claimed to be the sole heirs for their daughter’s possessions, and that Audrey Hale did not leave a will, in an ongoing probate court case.
Ronald Hale and Norma Hale specifically claimed in probate court that Audrey Hale did not leave a last will and testament or valid testamentary instrument prior to her March 27, 2023 attack on the Covenant School, where she claimed the lives of six before she was heroically shot by Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) officers.
Despite this claim, The Star obtained the suicide note left by Audrey Hale in her bedroom, which demanded to Ronald Hale and Norma Hale, “PLEASE READ MY WILL.”
In total, The Star obtained a portion of police documents related to the Covenant case, and approximately 80 pages of the killer’s writings from a journal police recovered from her vehicle via a source familiar with the investigation.
Since obtaining the documents and journal, The Star has published more than 100 articles that reveal the killer’s own words or provide new information about the Covenant case, including the revelation that Audrey Hale was a 22-year mental health patient at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), where she was twice evaluated for inpatient commitment due to suicidal ideation.
The Star also published an FBI memo sent to MNPD in May 2023, which “strongly” advised against the release of “legacy tokens” from killers like Audrey Hale. An FBI definition suggests both the writings obtained by The Star and those sought in the lawsuit are considered unfit for public release by the federal agency.
The FBI declined to confirm it sent the statement when reached by The Star, but did confirm it sends such materials to local law enforcement.
Both Leahy and SNDM remain plaintiffs in the ongoing federal lawsuit, which seeks to compel the FBI to release Audrey Hale’s full writings.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “I’Ashea Myles” by I’Ashea Myles.
Judges that get overturned on appeal for basic misrepresentations of established law need to go back to the remedial clown college they got their makeups tips from.
Not to be disrespectful to Chancery Court Judge I’Ashea L. Myles; either as a woman, a person of color, or as a member of the judiciary….. but whenever I see a photograph of her, I get the impression I am looking at an Instagram influencer.
No one saw that coming. NOT! Lefty judge.