Court Says Nashville Cannot Block Access To Covenant Shooter’s Writings

A Tennessee court has overturned a judge’s decision to block the release of writings by the transgender-identifying woman who killed three children and three adults during an attack on a Christian school in Nashville in March 2023.

The Tennessee Court of Appeals said Wednesday that the city of Nashville must allow inspection of the writings of The Covenant School attacker under public record laws. In August 2024, Davidson County Judge I’Ashea Myles ruled that copyright claims put on the writings preempted public records requests.

“Construing the [Tennessee Public Records Act] broadly to promote access to public records, as we are required, we conclude that under these particular circumstances, the only overt action Metro must take to meet its obligation is to allow Petitioners access to the records for personal inspection,” the judges wrote. “Simply put, so long as Metro maintains the records, it must allow Petitioners access … for personal inspection.”

The writings of the shooter include journal entries made in the months leading up to the March 27, 2023, attack. After the attack, the Nashville Police Department refused to release the writings, citing an ongoing investigation. A group of parents whose children attended The Covenant School also intervened to block the release of the writings, citing a copyright claim to the materials granted by the attacker’s parents.

The parents and the school also said that releasing the attacker’s writings would cause school safety concerns, a position that Myles agreed with in her ruling.

“This conclusion strains credulity, and we are neither willing nor able to make the blind logical leap the Covenant Intervenors ask of us,” the appeals court said, noting that many of the writings were made years before the attack.

The judges also said that there was no school shooter manifesto exemption to public records law because of fears about the writings inspiring future attacks.

“Respectfully, this argument is rooted in speculation about potential future events, not facts present in the record before us. This is a policy debate not contemplated by, or anywhere mentioned in” public records law, the judges said.

The parties who sued for access to the writings included Tennessee Star publisher Michael Patrick Leahy, the Tennessee Firearms Association, The Tennessean, and the National Police Association. Leahy was represented by the America First Legal Foundation.

“This unanimous ruling by the Tennessee Court of Appeals is a major victory for freedom of the press, the people of the State of Tennessee, and The Tennessee Star,” Leahy said of the ruling. “It is in the public interest for all of these documents to be released to us expeditiously, as the Court of Appeals ruled.”

Despite these efforts, portions of the shooter’s writings have already been released through the FBI and through media reports, including The Daily Wire. Ramblings of the shooter posted by the FBI in December 2025 revealed that she hated white people and religion.