The record is clear that Daniel Vaughn killed Chad Pedigo after a lengthy Battlefield Parkway road rage incident on Sept. 6, 2021 — but was it murder or self-defense?
After two days of trial, all witnesses have testified at the Catoosa County Courthouse, and the 12-person jury will return Wednesday morning to hear closing statements before the jury members make their decision on six criminal counts that include malice murder and firearm charges.
A resident of Ringgold, Vaughn was returning with his wife from a Labor Day family outing on Nickajack Lake when, witnesses agree, Pedigo brake checked and yelled threats at Vaughn, who responded with a middle finger. That enraged Pedigo further, and Vaughn testified the fellow Ringgold resident continued with his aggressive driving and threats as Vaughn was followed to his house.
(READ MORE: Judge denies self defense plea in fatal Ringgold, Georgia, road rage shooting)
More threats were made by Pedigo when they both arrived at Vaughn's house.
Pedigo left, but then returned to Vaughn's house after dark with more angry rhetoric — and from less than 30 feet away, Vaughn fired 20 rounds from his semi-automatic rifle into the side of Pedigo's vehicle, killing him instantly.
"I feared for my life — the man came back," Vaughn testified Tuesday.
After having Pedigo make several bodily threats against him, throw things at his car, brake check him several times and come to his house twice, Vaughn said he assumed that when Pedigo returned he was armed and intended on injuring him or his wife.
Deanna Reisman, Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit senior district attorney, is the primary prosecutor on the case.
She was critical of Vaughn's decision to shoot during questioning Tuesday afternoon.
"At no point does Pedigo set foot on your property or get out of his car," Reisman said. "He never points a weapon at you."
Vaughn agreed but still argued he feared for his life.
In heated questioning, Reisman asked if Vaughn knew if someone else was in Pedigo's vehicle, be it a passenger or a baby seat, or did he fire blindly into his vehicle. Vaughn said he couldn't see into Pedigo's vehicle but countered that Pedigo had been threatening and his vehicle had been used as a battering weapon earlier in the day.
Responding to the questioning, Vaughn said Pedigo had multiple opportunities to end the conflict, including not coming back to his home or driving off when Vaughn ordered him to leave before the shooting occurred. Vaughn and his wife, Wendy Vaughn, testified she worked from home and would be alone during the day.
No weapons were found in Pedigo's vehicle, according to testimony from Catoosa County Sheriff's Office deputies, including Alan Miles, a retired detective with the law enforcement agency.
During testimony, Vaughn's army-green ArmaLite AR-10 was in the courtroom, as were Vaughn's two other handguns.
Throughout the trial, audio clips from 911 calls, badge camera footage, home security camera footage and video taken by Pedigo were played for the jury. The prosecution did not dispute Pedigo's road rage but argued the final incident during which Vaughn opened fire was murder, not self-defense.
In testimony, Miles said he was "torn" regarding charging Vaughn. He referred the case to the district attorney, who also did not bring charges soon after the shooting.
Later, in February 2022, a Catoosa County grand jury also opted not to charge Vaughn.
(READ MORE: Catoosa County man arrested in connection with fatal 2021 road rage shooting case)
But after a second grand jury, Vaughn was arrested in early January on several counts, including two counts of murder, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, discharging firearms on or near a public highway or street and reckless conduct.
After his arrest, Vaughn was denied bond and has since been held at the Catoosa County Jail.
On Monday, day one of testimony, Dr. Michelle DiMarco, an assistant medical examiner with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, described the injuries suffered by Pedigo.
She said that of the 20 rounds fired, 13 hit Pedigo's vehicle and seven likely struck the deceased.
One shot shattered Pedigo's skull, DiMarco said, another hit him in his left abdomen, a third struck him in the scrotum, a fourth injury on his left outer arm was from metal fragments, two bullets pierced his left thigh and one hit him in his calf.
DiMarco said the head injury would have been instantly fatal, while the abdomen injury might have been fatal. She said there was no way to determine the order in which the wounds occurred.
Contact Andrew Wilkins at awilkins@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6659. Follow him on Twitter @tweetatwilkins.