A man who opened fire on a Nashville-area Waffle House in a deadly 2018 attack was sentenced Saturday to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Travis Reinking, 33, was found guilty of four counts of murder Friday after the jury rejected his insanity defense in the rampage that also left four injured.
Jurors handed down the sentence the following day after hearing about two hours of emotional testimony from family members of the four killed. The jury had the option of giving Reinking the chance for parole after serving 51 years in prison.
Taurean Sanderlin, 29; Joey Perez, 20; Akilah Dasilva, 23; and DeEbony Groves, 21; were killed in the attack.
“I’ve always been somebody that they say is unbreakable, because no matter what our family has been through, I will always be the one to bring our family up,” Patricia Perez said through tears about losing her son Joey. “This has broken me.”
A patron has been credited with helping save lives by grabbing the gunman’s assault rifle to stop the April 22, 2018, attack.
James Shaw Jr., an AT&T employee, was burned by the gun’s barrel and grazed by a bullet in the process.
Reinking, 33, was described as wearing only a jacket during the violence at a Waffle House in Antioch, Tennessee.
He fled after the shooting and was found after a manhunt.
He was ordered to a mental health evaluation in the weeks after the attack, and his defense team based much of the case on questions about his state of mind.
Reinking pleaded insanity and, if the jury had agreed, he likely would have been sent to a mental institution, where mental health professionals could determine his freedom.
Psychologists testified that he suffered delusions and believed random people were part of a conspiracy against him.
Prosecutors offered evidence and arguments that Reinking was calm and cooperative after his arrest.
