Sources: Man charged with killing Gwinnett father in road rage incident has history of similar cases

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — Police say they have made an arrest in the deadly shooting of a Gwinnett County father.

Don Wardlaw, 46, was found dead in January after he crashed his car following a road rage incident.

Channel 2′s Tony Thomas learned that this is actually the second time the suspect has been accused of murder.

Wardlaw’s family said they are still trying to process the apparent road rage murder.

“It’s really hard to follow because it’s 4:30 in the morning,” Wardlaw’s sister-in-law Danielle McKinley said. “It just does not make any sense for any reason.”

Gwinnett police say Wardlaw was heading to work early in the morning on Jan. 27 when he was killed.

Detectives say security cameras show there was only one other car on Rockbridge Road at the time — Michael C. Jackson’s.

“It is believed our victim made a U-turn trying to get away,” said Hideshi Valle with the Gwinnett County Police Department.

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Police charged Jackson, 58, this week with murder and other counts.

Thomas researched Jackson’s criminal history.

Sources told Thomas that Jackson was connected to a 2016 potential road rage incident in Conyers.

North Carolina records show he served five years for second-degree murder, which sources say was also related to road rage.

“Investigators found history consistent with the pattern,” Valle said.

Jackson’s attorney, Matt Crosby, texted Thomas on Friday, saying: “Mr. Jackson not only denies any responsibility in this case, he denies any knowledge of what occurred.”

“You have no idea what goes through the mind of someone to make them make a decision like this and cause such permanent harm,” McKinley said.

Jackson is being held without bond in the Gwinnett County Jail.

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