NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The mother of one of the Waffle House shooting victims agreed with President Donald Trump's announcement to have the Justice Department ensure mass murder suspects face the death penalty.
In his speech on Monday addressing the two deadly attacks in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio, the president said, "I'm also directing the Department of Justice to propose legislation ensuring that those who commit hate crimes and mass murders face the death penalty, and that this capital punishment be delivered quickly, decisively, and without years of needless delay.”
Trisha Perez said she is pleased with what he said but remained cautious whether anything will in fact change. Her son, 22-year-old Joe Perez, was one of four victims killed at a Waffle House in Antioch in April 2018.
Travis Reinking, who is accused of opening fire, is awaiting trial. The Davidson County district attorney's office has not determined if it will seek the death penalty, nor was there a known hate crime criminal investigation.
Since her son's death, Perez has been contacting lawmakers across the country to push for a change in federal laws. She wants suspects in mass shootings to go straight to federal court and face the death penalty.
"It will be automatic, there's no negotiating then we will see how many of them will do this. I think if people knew, they'd stop and think that what they're planning to do is going a little too far," Perez told NewsChannel 5.
Perez strongly believes that in most cases, the defendants are acting out of hate and not directly because of mental health-related issues.
"People who truly have the disability are getting stigmatized too because of that," Perez added.
However, attorney David Raybin, who drafted the Tennessee death penalty laws, said the death penalty doesn't necessarily deter criminals but an act of retribution for people who commit the most horrendous of crimes.
He finds that the president's idea is to broaden the existing federal laws so that the prosecutor doesn't have to prosecute a hate crime to get the death penalty. Currently, the federal government can only prosecute if there federal statute violations including hate crimes or if they involve federal buildings like the Oklahoma City bombing.
Raybin said Perez's idea can be accomplished if there are federal ties but an automatic death sentence is unconstitutional.
"You cannot make the death penalty the sole punishment for a particular homicide the jury has to have an option of life without parole or death," he said.
In reality, inmates who are executed in the federal system have been extremely rare in the past.
Almost two weeks ago, Attorney General William Barr directed the Justice Department to carry out death penalties, which would restore execution in 16 years. Five inmates have since been scheduled to be executed.
Out of all of the inmates sentenced to death, Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof is the only defendant convicted of a federal hate-crime.
Prosecutors in El Paso announced they are seeking the death penalty against the Texas mass shooting suspect, and are pursuing a civil rights hate crime investigation as well as charges of domestic terrorism.
