Not Guilty Verdict in Road Rage Case

RINGGOLD, Georgia (WDEF) – The question in a Catoosa County murder trial was never whether Daniel Vaughn actually shot Chad Pedigo two years ago.

The question was did he have the right to do so.

A jury this afternoon found Vaughn not guilty on all charges from the Ringgold shooting.

The case began when the two men got into an aggressive driving argument along Battlefield Parkway in September of 2021.

Pedigo followed Vaughn to his Ringgold home, where they argued.

Then he returned to the Vaughn home later that night. The argument and threats continued.

That’s when Vaughn produced a semi-automatic weapon and fired 20 plus shots into Pedigo’s vehicle, killing him.

Pedigo said he was just protecting his family from a man who twice came to his home and threatened him.

Investigating officers initially declined to charge Vaughn, citing Georgia’s Stand Your Ground law.

A grand jury also declined to indict him.

Then, after a detective hired by the Pedigo family, came up with some new evidence, a second grand jury did indict Vaughn for the shooting.

Prosecutors argued that Pedigo never got out of his car and did not actually have a weapon.

But Vaughn’s wife told jurors that she felt her family was, indeed, in danger from the man who had made threats against him.

And her husband took action before he could carry out those threats.

Vaughn faced six charges in all and the jury dismissed them all.