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 people in 2018 at a Waffle Home in Tennessee

ByThe Associated Press

19 Could 2022, 17:42

• 3 min read

PEKIN, Unwell. -- An Illinois man faces as much as three years in prison 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 House in Tennessee.

A judge convicted Jeffrey Reinking last week of unlawful delivery of a firearm to a person who had been handled for mental illness throughout the previous 5 years, the ( Peoria) Journal Star reported. He remains free on bond pending his sentencing, which is set for June 17.

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

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

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

However Jeffrey Reinking’s legal professional, Kevin Sullivan, argued at trial that his shopper didn’t know his son had been handled for psychological well being issues on the hospital. Sullivan mentioned he knew his son was brought to the hospital but didn’t know why, and was not responsible of the charge.

As a result of the younger Reinking had his firearm proprietor’s identification card revoked by Illinois State Police, he could not legally have guns throughout the state. Travis Reinking surrendered his guns to his father, who later returned them to him in some unspecified time in the future before the fatal capturing at a Waffle House in Nashville, prosecutors said.

The assault-style rifle he used 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 possibility of parole after being convicted of four counts of first-degree homicide and different expenses. He opened hearth contained in 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 people have been tormenting him. He contacted legislation 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 into a restricted space on the White House grounds and demanded to satisfy with then-President Donald Trump.