Father of the Waffle House shooter is accused of giving his son the rifle used in the killing of four people in the Nashville restaurant in 2018 pleads not guilty to related gun charges
- The father of accused Waffle House shooter Travis Reinking pleaded not guilty to related gun charges in Tazewell County court in Illinois on Thursday
- Jeffrey Reinking is accused of giving an AR-15-style rifle to his 30-year-old son, who authorities said used it in Nashville on April 22, 2018
- Reinking claims he was never the owner of the gun and had sought the advice of the Tazewell County Sheriff's Department on whether to return it to his son
- Restaurant worker Taurean C. Sanderlin, 29, and customers Joe R. Perez, 20, Akilah Dasilva, 23, and Deebony Groves, 21, were all killed in the shooting
The father of accused Waffle House shooter Travis Reinking pleaded not guilty on Thursday to related gun charges in Tazewell County court in Illinois.
Jeffrey Reinking is accused of giving an AR-15-style rifle to his 30-year-old son, Travis Reinking, who authorities said used it in Nashville on April 22, 2018.
Reinking contends he was never owner of the gun and had sought the advice of the Tazewell County Sheriff's Department on whether to return it to his son.
Jeffrey Reinking (left) is accused of giving an AR-15-style rifle to his 30-year-old son, Travis Reinking (right), who authorities said used it in Nashville on April 22, 2018.
Restaurant worker Taurean C. Sanderlin, 29, and customers Joe R. Perez, 20, Akilah Dasilva, 23, and Deebony Groves, 21, were all killed in the shooting.
In a filing with the court, his lawyers contended that Jeffrey Reinking talked to the sheriff's department several times and at no time was he told the guns should be kept away from Travis Reinking.
'The defendant is not guilty because the people cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant made a gift or sale of a firearm, and Jeffrey L. Reinking was never the owner of the firearm in question,' defense attorney Joel E. Brown said.
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'At all times the firearm was owned by Travis Reinking,' he added in the court filing.
Several guns were returned to Travis Reinking in November 2017, despite the father being aware that his son had been a patient shortly before at the Methodist Medical Center of Illinois Mental Health Unit, according to the charges.
The weapons were taken from the younger Reinking in mid-2017 when his Illinois firearm owner's identification card was revoked because he had moved to Colorado.
The Tazewell County Sheriff's Department placed them in Jeffrey Reinking's care.
Restaurant worker Taurean C. Sanderlin, 29, and customers Joe R. Perez, 20, Akilah Dasilva, 23, and Deebony Groves, 21, were all killed in the shooting
The older Reinking has posted bond and faces up to three years in prison and a fine, if convicted.
The younger Reinking was a one-time crane operator who moved across multiple states and suffered from delusions, sometimes talking about plans to marry singer Taylor Swift, friends and relatives told authorities.
He was detained by the Secret Service in July 2017 after venturing into a forbidden area on the White House grounds and demanded to meet President Donald Trump.
Travis Reinking is being held without bond on first-degree murder charges.
The Tennessean in Nashville reported that the family of Akilah DaSilva, one of the people killed in the Waffle House shooting, has settled the portion of their $20 million lawsuit affecting Jeffrey Reinking. The settlement amount is unknown.
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