Nashville prosecutors are seeking a sentence of life in prison without the chance for parole for alleged Waffle House shooter Travis Reinking, a Morton native.
The Davidson County Circuit Clerk's Office confirmed Wednesday that prosecutors have declined to seek the death penalty for Reinking.
He's charged with killing four people and injuring four others in a mass shooting as a suburban Nashville Waffle House restaurant in April 2018.
Reinking, 30, has been found conpetent to stand trial in Tennessee. His Illinois FOID card was revoked in 2017 after he attempted to scale the White House fence to meet President Donald Trump. Reinking also had a history of previous incidents and mental illness in Tazewell County that ultimately led to a law enforcement request for him to surrender his firearms.
Reinking transferred his guns to his father, Jeffrey. But the elder Reinking gave those guns back to his son when he moved to Tennessee. One of those guns, a Bushmaster AR-15, was used in the Waffle House shooting. Jeffrey Reinking faces felony charges in Tazewell County related to that transfer.
The Reinking case spurred the passage of "red flag" laws in Illinois that allow a person's firearms to be revoked if they're deemed a threat to themselves or others.
A trial date for Travis Reinking hasn't yet been set.
