A grieving twin sister has made “disgusting” suggestions that her sibling’s tragic car accident last year somehow sparked the Covenant School massacre.
Trans shooter Audrey Hale was reportedly “in love” with Sydney Sims, who played on the same basketball team as her in middle school.
The sudden death of Sims in a horrific head-on collision last August left Hale “heart-breaking” and could have sent her into a murderous spiral, according to a report released Wednesday.
But Sims’ twin sister Taylor Sims, 28, ripped the story in a private Instagram message obtained by .
“Please don’t add such an ugly disgusting tragedy to my sister’s name,” she wrote. “That’s very sick and just shows that people are talking. Please let my sister out of this.’
Samira Hardcastle, who attended Nashville School of Arts with both girls, told the New York Post Hale looked up to Sims and posted “heartbroken” messages about her death on her now-deleted social media accounts.
“I just feel like she took it differently than some of us. She still posted about Sydney almost daily.
“What I knew of her was more admirable. Maybe even infatuation. That’s specifically who she really, really looked up to,” she told the outlet.
Sims, who attended Tuskegee University on a basketball scholarship before working as a medical assistant and behavioral therapist, was driving a Nissan Duke when he was hit head-on by a Hyundai Elantra in North Nashville.
The then 27-year-old was taken to the hospital but died from her injuries along with a 20-year-old passenger in the Hyundai.
Hale sent a floral tribute to the Sims family and attended the funeral of her late friend, with whom she played basketball about 15 years ago.
Sydney Sims died in a car crash last year, and Nashville gunner Audrey Hale is said to have had a crush on her. Sydney’s surviving twin Taylor has denied the tragedy prompted Monday’s massacre
Taylor Sims furiously denied in this furious Instagram post that the death of her sister Sydney drove Nashville gunman Audrey Hale to murder
She also attended the unveiling of a painting dedicated to Sims and posted a clip of herself silently bouncing a ball on TikTok with the caption: “For Syd. I look up, the sky is bright. It’s a beautiful day. I wish you were here…’
Former friends have told that while Hale has had a crush on Sims in the past, there has never been any indication it was reciprocated.
Hale expressed similar misplaced affection for another childhood friend, Averianna Patton, just 20 minutes before the start of her mad shooting spree Monday at Covenant School, killing three children and three adults.
“This is my last goodbye. I love you,” she wrote to her on Instagram. “You are the most beautiful person I have ever seen and known in my entire life.”
Patton told CNN’s Don Lemon that she hadn’t had a relationship with the shooter since they were children.
Investigators have yet to release the manifesto of the distorted Hale, who went by the name Aiden late last year and adopted He/Him pronouns, who were left behind before storming her former elementary school.
Hale pictured is believed to have lived as a transgender man named Aiden. She was shot by police officers after murdering three children, two teachers and a janitor
revealed earlier this week that her trans identity caused friction with her devout Christian parents, who forbade her from dressing as a man at their home in suburban Nashville.
“The truth is, none of us know why she did this,” Sim’s sister said of the killing spree.
‘Nothing about what she [Hale] It’s done Ok, we haven’t had contact with the girl for years because of other things.
“We all played middle school basketball together. That’s it and that’s all. Granted, everyone was welcome to my sister’s funeral, and that was the first time we’d seen her in a while.
“Then she showed up uninvited to my sister’s painting my mum had a few weeks ago (strange) and still don’t know how she found out.
“So, with all due respect, don’t attach my family, especially my sister, to this mess.”
Police confirmed Tuesday that Hale previously attended Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, but her motive for the shooting was unclear.
Police Chief John Drake added that Hale was suffering from an “emotional disorder” at the time of the shooting.
Hale was described as having “high-functioning” autism, and police confirmed she was receiving medical attention.
Her parents – Norma and Ronald Hale – knew she once had a gun but told her to sell it because they didn’t think she could be trusted with it.
Instead, she hid her stash and added by buying a total of seven different guns from five local stores, police said.
Chief Drake added: “Law enforcement knew nothing about the treatment and it’s obvious she shouldn’t have guns.”