Waffle House Victim's Mom Sues Alleged Shooter, Father For $100M

NASHVILLE, TN -- The mother of Akilah DaSilva, a 23-year-old Middle Tennessee State University computer engineering student killed in April's Antioch Waffle House shooting, is suing the alleged gunman and his father.

Shaundelle Brooks filed suit in Davidson County Circuit Court Wednesday against Travis Reinking, who faces four murder charges in the April 22 rampage, and his father, Jeffrey, who allegedly returned several guns - including the AR-15 investigators say was used at Waffle House - to his son despite his "actual knowledge that his son was mentally unstable and posed a severe risk of harm," according to the suit.

"As a consequence of Jeffrey Reinking's gross negligence and grotesque recklessness, Mr. DaSilve was brutally and senselessly murdered," it says.

The crux of the suit is that Jeffrey Reinking knew that the Bushmaster XM-15 rifle is a deadly weapon capable of killing numerous people quickly and that he knew his son was "mentally unstable" due to numerous documented encounters with police in their hometown of Morton, Ill., as well as the United States Secret Service.

The suit, filed on Brooks' behalf by Nashville attorneys Daniel Horwitz and Brian Manookian, says that Jeffrey Reinking had taken his son's guns, including the Bushmaster, at least three times between 2016 and 2017 and returned them every time, despite being urged by local law enforcement to keep them locked up and away from Travis, particularly after the latter's Illinois Firearms Owner Identification was revoked by state police at the FBI's request following an incident at the White House, during which Reinking tried to force his way on to the grounds, claiming he had a right to inspect them because he is a "sovereign citizen." Local sheriff's deputies seized Travis Reinking's weapons but then turned them over to his father as is allowed by state law. Jeffrey Reinking then reportedly turned them back over to his son before he moved to Tennessee, a state with far laxer gun laws than Illinois.

The suit claims Jeffrey Reinking was negligent because it was "foreseeable" and likely Travis Reinking would commit a violent act and that Jeffrey Reinking "took express actions to frustrate and undo the efforts of law enforcement to disarm his mentally deranged and dangerous son because doing so would promote his personal convenience" and that giving his son the Bushmaster "directly resulted in the death of Mr. DaSilva."

Furthermore, the civil suit says the Reinking's engaged in a civil conspiracy to circumvent Illinois and federal firearms laws. Brooks seeks $25 million in compensatory damages and $75 million in punitive damages.

"The purpose of this lawsuit is to honor my son's beloved memory, hold those responsible for his death fully accountable and held ensure that nobody else's family ever has to experience the sorrow and horro that we have," Brooks said in a statement released by her attorneys.

Subscribe to Nashville Patch for more local news and real-time alerts

Photo via Metro Nashville Police