Man charged in 2023 Northshore pedestrian deaths back in court as he awaits trial

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- The man charged in the death of a mother and her son in November 2023 was back in court Monday.

It’s almost been two years since tragedy struck on Frazier Avenue.

Ana Posso Rodriguez and her one year old son, Jonathan Delvia, were killed while they were standing right in front of a gift shop when a car driven by Randy Vega ran into them and into the store.

Vega was back in court on Monday as he awaits his upcoming criminal trial.

However, other legal proceedings could affect this particular trial.

The admission of evidence from pending civil cases into Vega’s criminal trial was the main topic of debate.

Vega is facing two counts of vehicular homicide among other charges in the case.

Evidence from his preliminary hearing showed Vega losing control of his vehicle after colliding with a vehicle driven by Dr. Patrick McGinty, and crashing into the three victims.

He has also been sued civilly, along with the city of Chattanooga in this case.

One point of contention was if the defense would be allowed to argue other causes for the wreck based off of a settlement in a different civil case involving McGinty.

Public defender Andrea Hayduk argued, “It’s certainly relevant, could be relevant, as it pertains to causation that the roadways contributed to what happened as opposed to, but for my defendant.”

Judge Boyd Patterson said, “Civil settlements happen for all kinds of reasons beyond causation, because it’s often just cheaper for them to pay it rather than fight it in court. It could be something where it may not have anything to do with causation and so the relevancy of that would have to be pretty solid unless there’s some specific aspect of the settlement that goes to causation.”

Judge Patterson says he will wait to make a ruling on some pieces of evidence in this case, as he says some of that discovery will inevitably find its way into the criminal trial.

He said, “Make sure they don’t mistakenly use their high school math to figure out something an officer said and come to a conclusion that just doesn’t fit what either side wants.”

Vega’s trial is scheduled for November, but could be pushed back over an ongoing issue with a state-funded expert.