Mother of man killed at Lower Broadway bar in 2021 'livid' judge closed case from public

The mother of Dallas Barrett is livid that a Nashville judge has hidden court proceedings from public view in the criminal cases of seven men accused of killing her son in a downtown honky-tonk in 2021.

Tammy Barrett’s 22-year-old son Dallas Barrett died from asphyxiation after a fight with security guards in Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row on Aug. 16, 2021. Six security guards and one other man were indicted and charged with reckless homicide and aggravated assault in December of that year.

Judge Cheryl Blackburn sealed the entire case file on Jan. 13, 2023, but did not enter a public order announcing the seal or explaining why it was necessary until this month, an employee in the Davidson County Criminal Court Clerk’s Office told The Tennessean. In her July 17 order, Blackburn states keeping the case out of the public eye is necessary to ensure the defendants get a fair trial due to “extensive pre-trial publicity.”

The Nashville Banner first reported on Thursday that Blackburn sealed the case. Blackburn’s order from July 17 only came after the Banner inquired into the case, the outlet reported.

Blackburn also sealed a separate case involving one of the same defendants as the Barrett case, but no order has been entered as of Friday afternoon. That case also was sealed last January, the clerk's office said.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has ruled that judges must articulate in a written order their reasons for sealing a case, also known as closing a case. In its 1985 decision in State v. Drake , the court wrote "the trial judge shall articulate the specific facts upon which he has based a finding that closure is essential to preserve the moving party's interest and his finding that no alternatives to closure will adequately protect that interest." The court added, "A decision on closure motions must be rendered promptly."

Because she’s closely involved with the case, Tammy Barrett said Thursday that she’s known it was sealed for a while. She said Blackburn has been “very secretive” about the case from the start.

Tammy Barrett said she is "livid" with Blackburn’s decision to seal the case and said she has expressed that to the Nashville District Attorney’s Office many times.

“It kind of burns me up,” she said. “They (the defendants) deserve to have their name kept in people's minds for what they did.”

She said she wants the defendants to get a fair trial but does not believe that sealing the case is necessary to do so, saying that Blackburn has “taken it too far.”

“Why are we keeping these guys so protected?” she said.

An employee in Blackburn’s office said the judge could not comment on an open case. The district attorney’s office — whom Tammy Barrett felt did not push back against Blackburn’s decision to seal the case — declined to comment for this story.

None of the men who were indicted have been found guilty. They are Steven Simon, 47, and six men who were guards at the time of the incident: John Eustace, 29, Tarrell Gray, 27, Dylan Larocca, 36, Jaelen Maxwell, 25, Mallet Meneese, 32, and Mark Watkins, 27. They have all posted bond.

Metro Nashville Police spokesman Don Aaron said in August 2021 that witnesses reported security guards pulled Dallas Barrett to the ground and held him on the floor after he began to fight with them. Prosecutors allege Simon, who was not an employee, held Dallas Barrett's legs when he was on the ground.

Larocca is also the defendant in a separate criminal case related to an alleged assault at Florida Georgia Line House in March 2019. Blackburn is also the judge in that case. The case was sealed Jan. 17, 2023. No sealing order has been filed, the clerk's office said.

Dallas Barrett was a 2017 graduate of La Vergne High School in Rutherford County. Tammy Barrett said he worked as a bouncer at nearby Lower Broadway bar Tin Roof and as a server, but he dreamed of building a successful music career.

Larocca’s attorney Jeff Cherry declined to comment for this story. The other defendants’ attorneys did not return The Tennessean’s requests for comment.

Evan Mealins is the justice reporter for The Tennessean. Contact him at emealins@gannett.com or follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @EvanMe a lins .

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Mother of man killed at Lower Broadway bar in 2021 'livid' judge closed case from public