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 four individuals in 2018 at a Waffle Home in Tennessee

ByThe Related Press

19 Could 2022, 17:42

• 3 min read

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

A choose convicted Jeffrey Reinking last week of illegal delivery of a firearm to a person who had been handled for mental illness inside the past five years, the ( Peoria) Journal Star reported. He stays free on bond pending his sentencing, which is about for June 17.

During Reinking's May 13 bench trial, Tazewell County prosecutors argued that the rural 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 parking lot in Morton where Travis Reinking informed officers he believed singer Taylor Swift was stalking him and had hacked into his cellphone.

Reviews the Journal Star obtained in 2018 confirmed Travis Reinking was delivered to a Peoria hospital for an analysis after that incident and had agreed to go to the hospital.

But Jeffrey Reinking’s lawyer, Kevin Sullivan, argued at trial that his client didn’t know his son had been handled for psychological health points at the hospital. Sullivan stated he knew his son was delivered to the hospital but didn’t know why, and was not responsible of the cost.

Because the younger Reinking had his firearm owner’s identification card revoked by Illinois State Police, he could not legally have weapons within the state. Travis Reinking surrendered his weapons to his father, who later returned them to him in some unspecified time in the future earlier than the fatal capturing at a Waffle Home in Nashville, prosecutors stated.

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

Travis Reinking was sentenced in February to life in prison with out the potential for parole after being convicted of four counts of first-degree murder and different prices. He opened fireplace inside the restaurant on April 22, 2018, killing Taurean Sanderlin, 29; Joey Perez, 20; Akilah Dasilva, 23; and DeEbony Groves, 21.

Evidence at Travis Reinking's trial showed he had schizophrenia and suffered delusions for years, believing unknown folks were tormenting him. He contacted regulation enforcement several times 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 satisfy with then-President Donald Trump.