Who is the Judge Protecting? Covenant School Shooter’s Writings Won’t See the Light of Day. 

July 5, 2024

Tennessee Judge I’Ashea L. Myles has ruled that not one page of the writings by the Covenant school shooter, Audrey Hale, will be released for public review. Why? Sounds like a cover up. Who is being protected?

The ruling is an insult that helps no one. The cat is already out of the bag. Audrey Hale was a mental patient from the age of six when in 2001 Hale’s parents turned her over to the mental health “experts” at Vanderbilt University Hospital. And had it not been for the leaked information from a law enforcement source to the Tennessee Star reporters, we’d have no idea the amount of psychiatric drugging that was being conducted on Hale.

But first we must take a step back and wonder why Hale’s parents found it helpful or necessary to turn over their daughter’s writings to the Covenant School and the parents of the victims. Why? Mom and Dad Hale knew their daughter was a mental health mess for many years. Mom and Dad Hale knew about the psychiatric drug experimenting that was done on their daughter. In fact, Norma Hale is reported to have told investigators that Audrey had to “go through a series of medications to find one that was appropriate for her.” Really?

How many mind-altering drugs was Audrey subjected to before the mental health experts found the one that was “appropriate for her.”  Just when was that eureka moment? Given that four mind-altering drugs were found in Hale’s bedroom by investigators, it appears that the eureka moment never happened. The question is how many times was Hale prescribed psychiatric mind-altering drugs, when did the drugging first begin and how often were Hale’s prescriptions tweaked over two decades to try and “find one that was appropriate for her?”

What Hale wrote in her diary must be a humdinger or why else would it be so protected. It’s already been leaked that Hale wanted to kill her father. Is there more detailed information about that incident that the parents want withheld? Or did Hale write about her psychiatrists and her frustrations with the number of drugs she was being fed? Because of this judge’s decision, nobody knows and, perhaps, never will.

But this is an interesting case not just because of the withholding of important information about the shooter, but also from the standpoint of who should be held responsible for Hale’s murderous behavior. Recall that in February of this year, Jennifer and James Crumbley, the parents of Michigan’s Oxford High School shooter, Ethan, were found guilty of four counts of involuntary manslaughter. A first of its kind trial where the parents of the shooter were found criminally responsible for their son’s mass murder and sentenced to prison. Why? In this case, the Crumbley’s failed to secure a gun and ammunition at home and failed to get help to support Ethan’s mental health. Not enough mental health?

What happens when there is too much mental health intervention? Did Hale’s parents fail to understand the serious and deadly side effects associated with the psychiatric drug cocktails their daughter was being prescribed. There is little doubt, given the information that has since been leaked about Hale’s mental illnesses, that the parents were fully aware of their daughter’s volatile behavior. Further, because Hale was living with her parents, did the parents have a duty to ensure that their daughter’s guns and ammunition were secure? Did Hale’s parents deliberately give their daughter’s writings to others to hide information that might prove embarrassing to them or others? Who?

Maybe Audrey’s diary provides details about her “treatment” at the hands of the professionals at Vanderbilt. Maybe in Hale’s lucid moments she was less than thrilled with the “treatment” she was being subjected to at Vanderbilt and she wrote about it.

Maybe the smartest guys in the room over at Vanderbilt hospital didn’t pay attention to the possible serious adverse events associated with their chemical concoctions being mixed for Audrey? Maybe the best and brightest “treating” Audrey had a duty to inform law enforcement about her homicidal ideation that she spoke of often during “treatment” sessions? How would those actions, or Vanderbilt’s lack of action, be any different than what was expected of the Crumbleys?

Seems like an awful lot of people knew of Hale’s serious/murderous behavioral distress and did nothing to protect her or the public. Somebody’s got to be responsible. And one must wonder if Audrey’s writings are the key to finding out how best to correct this grievous wrong. It could be argued that by virtue of the fact that Hale took the time to write about what was happening in her life that she meant for us to see it. It could be argued that Hale meant for us to understand her drug-induced insanity. But thanks to Judge Myles, the public is dealt another, final assault. Who is the Judge protecting?

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