Berrien Co. man sentenced to life without possibility of parole for brutal family murder
ALAPAHA, Ga. – A superior court judge has sentenced a Berrien man to life without the possibility of parole plus 25 years in prison. On July 8th, 2025, a Berrien County jury took less than 45 minutes to convict Jared Dean Zisman of murdering his uncle and viciously attacking his mother and brother with a baseball bat. The crimes occurred on July 24th, 2021, and shocked the small southern town of Nashville, Georgia.
Evidence presented to the jury during the trial showed that the defendant called 911 after the attacks and stated that he had killed his family with a baseball bat, but “the job wasn’t done”. After the attack on his uncle and mother, the defendant’s brother managed to wrestle the bat from the defendant and escape.
District Attorney Chase L. Studstill stated that “The brutality of the crimes caused a visceral reaction in the community and to the jury who heard and saw the case over a two day period.
Studstill said that his office managed to obtain custodial communications made by the Defendant from the Berrien County Law Enforcement Center after the crimes were committed. In several of these communications, Zisman admitted he had “done the unthinkable” and that he had planned the attacks.
Studstill went on to say that the jury was shown the bodycam of responding officers to the scene which revealed the aftermath and savagery of the attack. “His mother’s injuries were so severe that she was hospitalized for months and almost died. He attacked and killed his uncle, then attacked his own mother while she slept. His mother lost permanent use of her left eye and both of her arms were broken when she tried to defend herself.”
The autopsy on the defendant’s uncle revealed that the Mark Pagan died of blunt force trauma to the head.
On Wednesday, July 16th, 2025, Chief Superior Court Judge Clayton Tomlinson sentenced Zisman to life without the possibility of parole followed by 25 years in prison. During the sentencing hearing, the state told the Court, “this man tried to destroy his entire family. His sentence should reflect the vile, viscous and inhumane way he treated his family.”
“I would like to thank the Nashville Police Department and Berrien County Sheriff’s for their excellent work and professionalism in bringing Mr. Zisman to justice.” This case was prosecuted by Chief Assistant District Attorney Allen Lawson and Assistant District Attorney Michelle Avis. Studstill said that his team “did an excellent job in maneuvering through a number of legal obstacles in presenting this case. We have had four murder convictions in less than 12 months in Berrien County which is a remarkable feat and a testament to the hard work of our office. Our administrative assistants, investigators and victim advocates continue to perform amongst the best in the state. We will keep working hard to try and make our community safe.”
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