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Waffle House shooting suspect Travis Reinking is unfit for trial, new court filing says

Pointing to Reinking's court ordered mental evaluation, which has been underway for months after the April 22 shooting, prosecutors asked the court to consider if Reinking needed more intensive treatment before his case could move forward.

Travis Reinking, the man suspected of killing four people in a mass shooting at a Nashville Waffle House, is too mentally unstable to stand trial, lawyers argued in a motion filed Tuesday in court.

Pointing to Reinking's court ordered mental evaluation, which has been underway for months after the April 22 shooting, prosecutors asked the court to consider if Reinking needed more intensive treatment before his case could move forward.

PREVIOUS: Hearing set to determine if Waffle House shooting suspect Travis Reinking is fit to stand trial

Medical experts said on Aug. 9 that Reinking's "mental condition was such that he is currently not competent to stand trial and in need of immediate judicial hospitalization," Deputy District Attorney General Roger Moore wrote in the motion.

Criminal Court Judge Mark Fishburn is set to consider that argument during an Aug. 22 hearing.

Judges typically side with doctors in these cases, agreeing to keep defendants in a mental health institution until they are deemed well enough to face their charges in court.

Trials can get pushed back months while doctors work to get defendants medicine and other treatment.

Legal experts have said an insanity defense is possible in this case. While that argument focuses on Reinking's state of mind at the time of the shooting, the motion at issue now considers Reinking's current mental state.

Reinking, 29, has been held without bond while the criminal case is pending.

Reinking is charged in the deaths of Taurean C. Sanderlin, 29; Joe R. Perez, 20; DeEbony Groves, 21; and Akilah DaSilva, 23. He also faces four counts of attempted homicide and one count of using a firearm while committing a dangerous felony.

The Perez and DaSilva families have filed civil lawsuits against Reinking and his family.

Reach Adam Tamburin at 615-726-5986 and atamburin@tennessean.com. Follow him on Twitter @tamburintweets.

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