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 House in Tennessee

ByThe Associated Press

19 May 2022, 17:42

• 3 min read

PEKIN, In poor health. -- 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 individuals in 2018 at a Waffle House in Tennessee.

A judge convicted Jeffrey Reinking final 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 remains 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 agricultural Morton, Illinois, man knew his son, Travis Reinking, had undergone mental well being remedy in 2016.

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

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

However Jeffrey Reinking’s attorney, Kevin Sullivan, argued at trial that his client didn’t know his son had been handled for psychological health issues at the hospital. Sullivan stated he knew his son was brought to the hospital but didn’t know why, and was not guilty of the charge.

As a result of the youthful Reinking had his firearm owner’s identification card revoked by Illinois State Police, he could not legally have weapons inside the state. Travis Reinking surrendered his weapons to his father, who later returned them to him sooner or later earlier than the deadly taking pictures at a Waffle House in Nashville, prosecutors said.

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

Travis Reinking was sentenced in February to life in prison without the potential of parole after being convicted of four counts of first-degree murder and other charges. He opened fire 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 showed he had schizophrenia and suffered delusions for years, believing unknown people were tormenting him. He contacted regulation enforcement a number of 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 into a restricted area on the White Home grounds and demanded to satisfy with then-President Donald Trump.