Travis Reinking, who was charged with the murder of four people in 2018, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of release. On February 4, the 33-year-old was convicted guilty on all 16 charges, including eight counts of first-degree murder. On February 5, the jury’s verdict was revealed after two hours of victim impact testimonies. The defendant was emotionless. Judge Mark Fishburn of Davidson County Criminal Court approved the sentence on one murder charge. In May, the court will determine whether the remaining charges’ sentences would be concurrent or consecutive.
What exactly did Travis Reinking do?
Travis Reinking is suspected of opening fire with a rifle at a Waffle House in Nashville, Tennessee, killing four people. On April 22, 2018, the incident started just after 3.20 a.m. He left the scene when a client named James Shaw Jr. attempted to steal his firearm, sparking a search for him. The relatives of the four victims testified before the jury throughout the trial. All of the victims were under the age of 30. The two men killed outside the restaurant were Waffle House employee Taurean Sanderlin, 29, and customer Joe R. Perez, 20.
Travis Reinking also killed two people inside the bar: Akilah DaSilva, 23, a college student and musician, and DeEbony Groves, 21, a college student majoring in social work who was going out with her sorority sisters. Patricia Perez said that her son would have been 24 this year. He had lately come to Nashville to assist his brother in establishing a company. She did, however, tell that the victim’s brother stopped his firm and relocated to Nashville after the event.
#TravisReinking ;Guilty
. The jury has convicted Travis Reinking on all 16 counts. pic.twitter.com/BoWHDGKJfe— Burton Staggs 🥋 (@burtstaggsnews) February 4, 2022
“Our lives had been utterly shattered. This has shattered me, not only in soul and in family, but also in thought. This has psychologically wrecked me.”
DaSilva’s mother, Shaundelle Brooks, wakes up every day and finds her kid has vanished.
“I replay that night in my brain every morning before I even get out of bed.”
She said that she went to Waffle House following the incident. While her kid lay in the ambulance, she recognized his shoes. She called out his name three times, but he didn’t respond. The prosecution had sought for Reinking to be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of release, claiming that his gunshots were still tearing apart the families of his victims.
