Man Charged in Death at Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row Avoids Jail
One of seven men charged in the death of a patron at Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row establishment on Lower Broadway in Nashville will not serve any jail time in a plea deal struck with prosecutors. On Friday (4-10), Marine veteran Steven Simon plead guilty to reckless homicide, and was sentenced to two years of probation, with the possibility of the charge being expunged from his record if he meets the conditions of the probation.
In August of 2021, six security guards tackled 22-year-old Dallas Barrett after an altercation, pinning him to the ground to the point where he could not breathe. Steven Simon was not part of the security staff, but saw the altercation, and helped hold down Dallas Barrett’s legs. Barrett later died, with the cause of death found to be asphyxiation. Mr. Simon told the court that he’d previously worked in security and was trying to help.
“I felt like I was trying to assist, as crazy as that sounds because of the outcome. I’m extremely remorseful and sorry for what happened to your son,” Simon told Dallas Barrett’s mother Tammy in the hearing.
In her statement to the court, Tammy Barrett said in part, “He will be under two years of probation, although my son is gone forever. He will likely get his record expunged, although my son is dead forever. Despite those cries for help, Mr. Simon continued to hold him down; he didn’t call for 911. He didn’t remove himself from the situation; he continued applying pressure to an already escalating situation, and as a result, my son is dead.”
Davidson County Criminal Court Judge Jim Todd signaled he agreed the sentence seemed too lenient, but also said he did not have cause to reject the plea deal struck by prosecutors. “The court finds that there’s no basis to reject the diversion, ma’am. The goal here of courts is to treat and rehabilitate offenders. It’s never going to fix the pain that you and your family will suffer, and I apologize for that.”
Tammy Barrett hasn’t just been advocating for her son, but for reforms to the laws of how security guards are hired and trained. “I felt like [the judge] wanted to do more, but he went down all the checklist,” she told reporters afterwards. “That’s what I hate, the checklist. It’s like my son’s life and his death was based off of a checklist; that sucks.”
The August 16th, 2021 incident occurred after security guards at Whiskey Row had reportedly told Dallas Barrett to leave the premises prior to the altercation, but he refused. Security then reportedly restrained Barrett and held him down until officers arrived. Numerous individuals called 911, with police arriving in just over two minutes. They found Barrett unresponsive, and began performing CPR. Police were then relieved by Nashville Fire Department personnel who transported Barret to Vanderbilt hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The investigation found that only two of the six security guards were properly licensed at the time, resulting in the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance suspending Whiskey Row’s license to hire private security. The bar is operated by a company called Riot Hospitality.
The six security guards also involved in the incident are set to go on trial on reckless homicide and aggravated assault charges on October 19th.
April 11, 2026 @ 9:35 am
A lot of questions: why was Barrett asked to leave? Why does it take seven men to restrain one 22 year-old?
If Simon was simply holding Barrett’s legs, then his plea deal seems sufficient. But then again, if he was just holding Dallas’ legs, as a marine could he not tell the young man was being suffocated?
The poor mother, the pain and lifetime of heartache she will suffer because of this. Does she acknowledged her son’s role in the altercation? He certainly didn’t deserve to die, but if he had left the bar, he would still be alive.
This whole thing is sad and serves as a reminder that when things escalate, it’s best to just walk away. Hopefully the men who actually killed Barrett will. be held to account.
April 11, 2026 @ 11:28 am
Found this video. Looks like he was asked to leave after pushing some people and then upped the ante by taking a poke at security when they were trying to remove him. It’s a short clip and there is no sound, but the punch he threw appears to be unprovoked.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SiLDhV3pkz0
Nothing I read mentions excited delirium as a contributing factor, but this sure sounds like it. People experiencing excited delirium go from living to dead very quickly and no amount of CPR or life saving measures can bring them back. Police and medics were on scene very soon after receiving the call, performing CPR, but were unable to revive him.
Either way, death by asphyxiation caused by being crushed under a bunch of people is one of the worse ways I can imagine to go.
April 11, 2026 @ 1:58 pm
Why he was asked to leave is the least important question here. If an individual is asked to leave a business for any reason, they have to go. In a bar situation where an individual is asked to leave and they get physical, the security guards have every right to throw them out of the bar. Let’s not pretend drunks on Broadway are church-goers all of a sudden.
Now as to whether this was a wrongful death scenario I have no opinion yet. It’s an unfortunate scenario of course but if the security guards are found legally liable I can only imagine it’s a manslaughter charge. Either way I expect black liberal women will start protesting very soon…. (sarcasm)
April 13, 2026 @ 8:41 am
It doesn’t matter why he was asked to leave. Bouncers are not allowed to murder someone who fails to leave. They can kick you out, they can call the cops, but killing the guy is not on the list of valid options.
April 13, 2026 @ 11:31 am
Marines are not in general trained to know the signs of asphyxiation. It’s not really part of the job. Please stop assuming that anyone trained in any kind of use of force is an expert in all uses of force in all contexts.
Bar bouncers aren’t trained to execute bayonet charges and Marines aren’t trained to restrain unruly bar patrons safely.
April 11, 2026 @ 12:07 pm
Tyler Childers needs to release an album about this.
April 11, 2026 @ 12:42 pm
Boy, questions that seem to make implications that make no sense.
Why was he asked to leave? Because he was acting loud, rambunctious and violent.
Why does it take seven men to restrain one 22 year-old? Maybe two men could have done it if they’d beaten him with their billy clubs/ nightsticks. They were trying to avoid doing that.
22-year-old? And…” He was 22, not 14. Floyd Patterson whas Heavyweight Champion of the World at 21. Mike Tyson was Heavyweight of the World at 20.
As a marine could he not tell the young man was being suffocated? Probably not, under the circumstances. He couldn’t even see the guy’s face or neck from where he was holding down his feed.
The prosecutors will have a difficult job trying to obtain convicitions against the security guards if they take this to trial. Mr. Simon was clearly the least culpable of all the defendants. Taking a plea where he admits to guilt was reasonable and fair.
April 12, 2026 @ 3:27 am
There’s a lot of issues here, the biggest being the security company not having properly trained bouncers. I’m not sure how this will all play out criminally, but if a civil trial hasn’t happened yet then some people are going to pay out huge for this between the security company and Riot Hospitality. Speaking as someone who used to work in the role, more often than not many bouncers are just big guys who have little to no training on both de-escalating situations or proper holds where both you and the patron are safe and you’re able to gauge the patron’s response to make sure the situation doesn’t end like this. It’s sad all around for everyone and in the end there isn’t going to be any winners.
April 12, 2026 @ 5:23 am
A difficult situation all around. When asked to leave a premesis, one should leave. However two things. We dont know the exact situation far as what happened or what was said so we cant know for sure if the victim had any right to question why he was being asked to leave. Secondly a bar situation almost always involves alcohol so thinking right isnt always assumed in situations elsewise there wouldnt be much need for security. I hate plea deals in cases where there are no doubts who was involved like this situation. Its not necessary and in a case involving someone dying its kind of shady. Now this guy seemed like he was only trying to help and not directly involved in the cause of death. But he did assist in a way and a lack of misjudement isnt a real defense to get out of trouble. I think it should have at least went to trial. The most wrongful thing here is this judges excuse, pretty pitiful. The courts responsibility is rehabilitarion for the offenders. Thats a crock. No the courts resonsibility is to find those responsible for crimes and give appropriate punishment for said crimes not to only to hold them responsible but to show courts wont allow behavior like that to be able to easily be gotten away with, with no real repercussions. Obviously should be removed from office.
April 12, 2026 @ 9:38 am
The prosecutors determined that their case against this particular defendant was weak. His defense would have been that his holding down the perpetrator/victim’s legs was not a cause of the guy’s death. (That’s in ADDITION to the defenses argued that the security guards will raise–that they were justified in restraining the victim, who was violent and dangerous. )
You yourself start going mealy-mouthed in the second part of your essay and acknowledge that he “was only trying to help and not directly involved in the cause of death.” That’s more than enough for a jury to acquit the guy outright. It’s not the prosecutors’ job to pursue weak cases where there’s loads of reasonable doubt as to a defendant’s guilt and the chances of obtaining a conviction are low.
The judge is not a prosecutor. The words quoted from the judge are a snippet from what was certainly a longer statement that he made in accepting the plea agreement. Your conclusion that “obviously” he should be removed from office is silly.
April 12, 2026 @ 10:40 am
Spoiler alert when someone working for the bar asks you to leave you dont have a right to question it. Its a private establishment and you just go.
April 12, 2026 @ 4:43 pm
@SixtyThreeGuild, pay no mind to LuckyOldDildo, your post was sound and reasonable.
April 12, 2026 @ 8:29 pm
Have you ever been drunk.
April 13, 2026 @ 8:42 am
yes, and I’ve worked security at bars for years too. If you can’t go out and public and know that when you’re asked to leave to do it, that’s a you problem not a business problem
April 12, 2026 @ 7:58 am
Not to downplay the seriousness of the article but did anyone notice the 3 letters not lit up in Dierks name on the bar front? Perhaps a different picture could have been chosen showing compassion for the family.
April 12, 2026 @ 8:26 pm
Your argument is totally baseless. I just basically stated his role was as directly involved as others and he didnt intend death but no intent doesnt meam you get basically totally off scott free which this for intensive purposes he did. Properly restraining someone doesnt mean its ok if they die, you can still be held accountable. Just like if you get together with someone and rob them and your partner kills someone, you can still somewhat be held liable for that death. I never read anywhere in there that it said he was being violent and dangerous though i guess you just assume that. Far as the judge, what i said wasnt silly it wasnt facts. The courts job is to find if a crime was commited and punish those responsible not only for that victim but to try to dissuade future such behavior by other people. Not reabilitation as he said it. I dont if it was part of anything. That judge made it sound like it was jaywalking. He should lose his position. If people who thought like you had a cop or someone kill someone you cared about in such a manner such as a son, a brother, a daughter, etc then thought the way you do. Oh its ok my daughter is dead for just not listening or following directions, then you might have some merit to your argument. But that would never be the case, you would be just as mad as this mom, saying its not right and you would be maybe reading someone saying the same stupid argument you said.
April 12, 2026 @ 9:14 pm
” I never read anywhere in there that it said he was being violent and dangerous …”
Try reading the second post in the thread. They guy even links to a video showing the perp/victim slugging a security guy.
You don’t seem to understand that prosecutors bring cases.
It was the prosecutor, not the judge who decided to make a deal with one of the seven defendants, the one who was clearly the least culpable (and who probably would never be convicted.
Unless there’s reason to believe that the prosecutor’s action is corrupt–i.e. this defendant is a friend of his, or this defendant’s father gave the prosecutor a big contribution–a judge is not going to second–guess a prosecutor’s decision to make a plea deal.
Hey, it’s nowhere near a slam-dunk that the guards/bouncers will be convicted. That will be a very tough case. It was not corrupt or unreasonable to offer a plea deal to the least culpable defendant.
April 12, 2026 @ 9:02 am
Riot hospitality? Interesting name.