A dispute over a bright work light ended in a fatal shooting on the night of Friday, April 3, 2026. Jerry Hightower, 59, a self-employed construction worker from Trion, Georgia, was doing maintenance on Ridgewood Street in Rossville, Walker County, when a beam from his work light shone into a neighboring home and sparked an argument. The confrontation escalated and Hightower was shot in the front yard of the residence where he was working. Deputies who responded shortly after 9 p.m. found him deceased at the scene.

Witnesses pointed police to a man sitting on his porch across the street. He was taken into custody without resistance and identified as 49-year-old James Richard Nowlin. Nowlin has been charged with murder and is being held at the Walker County Jail without bond. The investigation into the events that night is ongoing.

If anyone witnessed the dispute or has information about what led to the shooting, please share what is known.