Latest news with #TravisReinking
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
Waffle House shooter Travis Reinking seeks retrial to present more evidence of insanity
More than three years after Travis Reinking was found guilty of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of four people in an Antioch Waffle House in 2018, Reinking's attorneys appeared in a Nashville courtroom Aug. 4 in an attempt to revive his case. Reinking's attorneys argue that he is entitled to a new trial. The attorneys say errors by the prosecutors, former defense attorneys and the judge at Reinking's first trial, which turned solely on the jury's determination of whether he was sane enough at the time of the shooting to be found guilty, led to jurors receiving an incomplete picture of Reinking's mental health issues and state during the attack. Reinking has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. A 208-page filing from the defense, led by Stephen Ross Johnson of Knoxville, makes meticulous note of the alleged flaws in the first trial. But the defense emphasizes one "glaring" problem: Reinking's attorneys did not obtain their own mental health experts or conduct their own psychological evaluations of him before his first trial. In a written statement filed in court, David Raybin, a defense attorney described by the state Supreme Court as an expert in criminal law, called that decision "inconceivable." The decision lies with Judge Mark Fishburn, who presided over Reinking's trial in 2022, and sentenced him to four consecutive life sentences. Taurean C. Sanderlin, 29; Joe R. Perez, 20; DeEbony Groves, 21; and Akilah DaSilva, 23, died after Reinking walked into the Waffle House after 3:20 a.m. April 22, 2018, and opened fire with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle. State Rep. Shaundelle Brooks, DaSilva's mother, was at the hearing on Aug. 4. "Back in court today, still fighting for justice for my son Akilah," Brooks wrote in a post to X that morning. "He was only 23, talented, kind, full of life. "The man who took him from me wants another trial. But where's Akilah's second chance?" The defense has the burden of proving that Reinking was insane. The Davidson County District Attorney's Office, in a filing from Aug. 1, argued a new trial should not be granted on the "benefit of hindsight." "The fact that the jury found the defendant guilty was not due to anything other than the overwhelming evidence of his guilt, and nothing would change that result," the response reads. Fishburn has cleared his docket for the rest of the week to hear the case. It is not clear if the hearing will last that entire time. Have questions about the justice system? Evan Mealins is the justice reporter for The Tennessean. Contact him with questions, tips or story ideas at emealins@ This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Why Waffle House shooter Travis Reinking is asking for a new trial
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Tennessee gun safety bill inspired by Waffle House shooting victim passes first House hurdle
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — In rare form, a gun safety bill sponsored by a Democrat passed a Tennessee House subcommittee this week. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Shaundelle Brooks (D-Hermitage), would make it an offense to sell, offer to sell, deliver, or transfer a gun to a person knowing they've been a patient at a mental institution within the past five years. Rep. Brooks named the proposed legislation 'Akilah's Law' in honor of her late son, who was one of four people shot and killed in the Nashville Waffle House shooting in April 2018. 📧 Have breaking news come to you: → The shooter, Travis Reinking, was deemed by authorities mentally unfit to have a gun, but prosecutors said his father, Jeffrey, gave him one anyway. 'Despite being instructed by each of these oversight agencies to store their firearms safely and not return them to the shooter, the parents knowingly and intentionally disregarded those instructions, broke the law, and were subsequently held accountable because they resided in another state,' Rep. Brooks said during the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee Wednesday. According to officials, Reinking's father gave him the gun in Illinois, which already had a similar law to 'Akilah's Law' on the books. 'Thank God he gave him those guns in Illinois because if that happened here in Tennessee, I couldn't have done one thing about it,' Jan Norman, Nashville's assistant district attorney, testified during the subcommittee hearing. 'He wouldn't have been punished at all if it happened in Tennessee.' During the hearing, Republican lawmakers commended Rep. Brooks for meeting with each of them about the bill. 'That's how you work your bills, that's how you work your legislation and things you care about,' Rep. Andrew Farmer (R-Sevierville) said. 'I think you're going to go a long way in the Tennessee state legislature.' After Rep. Brooks' bill passed the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee seven to two, applause erupted. However, later in the week, she told reporters her work was far from over. 'I'm going to continue to work hard and push and connect with the committees,' Rep. Brooks said. 'I'm new at this, and I'm hoping for the best.' ⏩ Rep. Brooks' bill is scheduled to be debated in the House Judiciary Committee next Wednesday. The Senate version of the bill is set to be debated in the Senate Judiciary Committee next Monday. Travis Reinking is currently serving a life sentence for the Waffle House shooting. His father, Jeffrey, was sentenced to 18 months in 2023 for giving him the gun. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
