Illinois man convicted of giving son rifle he used to kill 4

An Illinois man faces as much as three years in jail after being convicted of illegally giving his son an assault-style rifle he later used to shoot and kill 4 folks in 2018 at a Waffle House in Tennessee

ByThe Related Press

19 May 2022, 17:42

• 3 min learn

PEKIN, Ill. -- An Illinois man faces as much as three years in jail after being convicted of illegally giving his son an assault-style rifle he later used to shoot and kill 4 individuals in 2018 at a Waffle House in Tennessee.

A decide convicted Jeffrey Reinking last week of unlawful supply of a firearm to a person who had been handled for mental sickness throughout the past five years, the ( Peoria) Journal Star reported. He remains free on bond pending his sentencing, which is ready for June 17.

Throughout Reinking's Could 13 bench trial, Tazewell County prosecutors argued that the agricultural Morton, Illinois, man knew his son, Travis Reinking, had undergone mental health treatment in 2016.

In Might 2016, police and fire personnel responded to a pharmacy car parking zone in Morton where Travis Reinking told officers he believed singer Taylor Swift was stalking him and had hacked into his cellphone.

Reviews the Journal Star obtained in 2018 showed Travis Reinking was dropped at a Peoria hospital for an evaluation after that incident and had agreed to go to the hospital.

But Jeffrey Reinking’s lawyer, Kevin Sullivan, argued at trial that his shopper didn’t know his son had been handled for mental well being points on the hospital. Sullivan stated he knew his son was delivered to the hospital but didn’t know why, and was not responsible of the charge.

Because the youthful Reinking had his firearm proprietor’s identification card revoked by Illinois State Police, he could not legally have weapons throughout the state. Travis Reinking surrendered his weapons to his father, who later returned them to him sooner or later before the fatal taking pictures at a Waffle Home in Nashville, prosecutors stated.

The assault-style rifle he utilized in that attack, an AR-15, was one of the guns his father had returned to him.

Travis Reinking was sentenced in February to life in jail without the potential for parole after being convicted of four counts of first-degree murder and other charges. He opened fireplace inside the restaurant on April 22, 2018, killing Taurean Sanderlin, 29; Joey Perez, 20; Akilah Dasilva, 23; and DeEbony Groves, 21.

Proof at Travis Reinking's trial confirmed he had schizophrenia and suffered delusions for years, believing unknown individuals were tormenting him. He contacted regulation enforcement several occasions to report that he was being threatened, stalked and harassed.

In July 2017, he was detained by the Secret Service after he ventured unarmed right into a restricted space on the White Home grounds and demanded to fulfill with then-President Donald Trump.