Waffle House shooter Travis Reinking found guilty
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Travis Reinking reacts to the verdict. Photo: Andrew Nelles/The Tennessean/USA Today Network
Travis Reinking was convicted Friday on all counts of first-degree murder for killing four people in a mass shooting at a Nashville Waffle House in 2018.
- He now faces the possibility of life in prison without parole for the deaths of Akilah DaSilva, 23; DeEbony Groves, 21; Joe Perez, 20; and Taurean Sanderlin, 29.
The latest: The jury rejected Reinking's insanity defense, which dominated discussion during the five-day trial, and also found him guilty on 12 other counts, including four counts of attempted murder.
- Reinking, 33, stood with a blank expression when the verdict was read. Survivors and family members of the victims sat silently in the courtroom. Some wept after the jury left the room.
State of play: The jury sided with prosecutors who argued that Reinking had knowingly committed an "evil act" on the morning of April 22, 2018, when he marched toward a Waffle House on Murfreesboro Pike wearing only a jacket and in 42 seconds fired 30 rounds from an AR-15 style rifle.
- Bullets shredded Reinking's victims, leaving wounds consistent with a military battlefield. Veteran police officers were brought to tears during testimony while describing the gruesome crime scene.
- Restaurant patron James Shaw Jr. charged Reinking during a break in the shooting and wrestled the gun away. Reinking ran from the scene and was captured after a 34-hour manhunt.
Details: Reinking's defense team never challenged the facts of the case and agreed he was the shooter, but argued his schizophrenia was so severe that it kept him from realizing his actions were wrong.
- His lawyers said delusions drove his actions and skewed his thinking.
What they're saying: "He knew what he was doing. Mental illness is not an excuse," assistant district attorney Ronald Dowdy said during closing arguments. "Travis Reinking isn't the only person who has problems, struggles, issues that he's got to overcome."
What's next: The jury will have to vote for or against the enhanced sentence of life without parole on the first-degree murder convictions.
- Judge Mark Fishburn set a sentencing hearing on the murder counts for Saturday morning.