Santa attack still fresh, board told

Family wants assailant held in prison

Angelia McGaughey once collected Santa Claus dolls and figurines. Now, she said, the mere sight of Santa brings back memories of terror.

At a state Board of Parole hearing Wednesday, McGaughey and her husband, Kevin, said it was just two days after Christmas in 2007 when the Brookland High School band director, Steven Vaughn, showed up at their house in Jonesboro dressed as Santa Claus, then pulled out a gun and pointed it at Kevin McGaughey, the school district superintendent.

McGaughey and his son, Nathan, fought with Vaughn, eventually subduing him and then holding him until the police arrived.

The encounter left the superintendent with two broken ribs, as well as cuts on his face that required 32 stitches and reconstructive surgery.

Vaughn, now 37, pleaded guilty to first-degree battery, aggravated residential burglary and attempted kidnapping and was sentenced to 11 years in prison.

At a hearing Wednesday, the McGaugheys urged the board to deny Vaughn’s bid for parole.

If Vaughn were free, Kevin McGaughey said he would be afraid for the safety of his family and for the safety of students and employees in the school district.

“We take all the precautions that we can to protect our kids,” McGaughey, 56, said. “We don’t need another issue to watch out for.”

In the months leading up to the attack, Vaughn had been feuding with the superintendent over a disciplinary matter involving a student.

Vaughn’s wife, Jody, who taught junior high band, claimed that the student had exacerbated her back problems when he grabbed a music book from her at a basketball game in February 2007, Kevin McGaughey said.

The student was suspended for three days. Jody Vaughn wanted him charged with assault and expelled, but a police officer who witnessed what happened didn’t corroborate her account, the superintendent said.

In the printed programs for student band concerts and in e-mails to other band directors, Steven Vaughn repeatedly complained about the district’s handling of the episode.

The superintendent and high school principal eventually orally reprimanded him.

“He was just told this has got to stop,” Kevin McGaughey said.

When Steven Vaughn showed up at the McGaugheys’ door, he was wearing a red Santa hat, a fake white beard, a red sweatshirt, black pants and black gloves and was carrying a plastic box labeled “Brookland football boosters.”

“We started football that year, and my first thought was that they’re sending something in appreciation,” the superintendent said.

Vaughn said, “I intended to bring you this before Christmas,” Kevin McGaughey recalled.

“I recognized his voice right away,” the superintendent said. “I said, ‘What are you doing here?’ And he quickly dropped the box and pulled a handgun on me.”

McGaughey said he grabbed the barrel of the gun and wrestled the weapon away from the band director. Vaughn smashed a glass vase against the superintendent’s head.

After Vaughn was subdued, police found a 5-gallon container of gasoline, a cigarette lighter and a large plastic bag in the box he had been carrying, Kevin McGaughey said.

In Vaughn’s car, police found another handgun and several rounds of ammunition. The superintendent said Vaughn also had used tape to disguise his license plate number.

“I think he just had one motive in mind, and unfortunately for him he was not able to carry that out,” Kevin McGaughey said.

After the attack, McGaughey said he and his wife spent thousands of dollars on a security system for their home. She gave away her collection of Santa items.

“I will do anything I can at Christmastime to avoid the mall,” Angelia McGaughey said.

Her husband told the board, “Our time enjoying Christmas as a family has disappeared.”

“We don’t look forward to that time of the year because we know it’s nearly the anniversary of what transpired there,” he said.

Vaughn first became eligible for parole last year, after serving about two years in prison. The board at that time declined to grant his release but said it would reconsider in a year.

Board member Jimmy Wallace said Wednesday that he had heard from several legislators about the case.

“I feel your pain, and I hope you can get back to where you can enjoy Christmas,” Wallace told the McGaugheys. “Maybe this individual will come to their senses before they get back out into society.”

Parole Board Chairman John Felts said a board member was to interview Vaughn at the North Central Unit near Calico Rock today.

A decision is expected later this month.