Father of 3 shot to death by 75-year-old driver during road rage incident, police say

CATAWBA COUNTY, N.C. (WBTV/Gray News) - A 75-year-old man was charged in the shooting death of a father of three during a road rage incident in North Carolina.

The Catawba County Sheriff’s Office also accuse Terrell Giddens of firing his gun into the car where the children were riding.

Giddens is being charged with murder and three counts of first-degree attempted murder. He was in court Monday morning to face those charges.

The neighborhood is now shaken to its foundation.

“I would say my heart just goes out to you. I feel so bad,” one tearful neighbor said.

The only thing left from a tragic scene is a small memorial and people asking, “Why?”

“It’s unbelievable. Isn’t it? That something like that could happen right here in my neighborhood,” resident Dennis Couch said.

What happened, according to investigators, was a simple argument that spiraled way out of control.

“The suspect has been charged, shot the victim, then shot into the victim’s car,” Aaron Turk, with the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office, said.

Detectives said the 75-year-old Giddens pulled a rifle out in the middle of the road rage incident, then shot and killed a 40-year-old father of three, identified by the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office as Jeffery Guida.

Giddens then turned the gun towards Guida’s truck where his three children, ages 13, 11 and 2 years old, were and pulled the trigger.

“It certainly could have been worse if the children were injured or killed,” Turk said.

None of the children were hurt during the melee.

Detectives said Giddens took off, but thanks to witnesses, he was tracked down at his home and taken into custody.

He found himself in front of a judge on Monday morning, charged with murder and three counts of attempted first-degree murder.

“Sounds like the guy just snapped,” Herb Perce, a defense attorney for the past 40 years, suggested.

Perce is not part of the case, but was in the courtroom when the defendant had his hearing.

“It’s just a shame the man got killed. It’s just the shame of it and this man will probably spend the rest of his life in prison,” Perce added.

Giddens told the court he was hiring his own lawyer and was given no bond.

“You think about it and it makes you sick to your stomach to think that somebody like that would happen,” Rose, a neighbor in the area, said.

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