Jury’s Verdict Affirmed for Man Who Shot Neighbor After Cookout Altercation
The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals has affirmed the first-degree premeditated murder conviction of Jeremy Tobias Ryan Byram. The ruling, released today, upholds the life sentence handed down by a Hardin County jury for the 2020 shooting death of his neighbor, Brian Diss.
The case centered on a dispute that occurred on October 7, 2020, following a cookout at the victim’s “off-the-grid” cabin in a rural part of Hardin County. According to court records, after his girlfriend and children had left, Byram was struck on the head with a hammer by Diss. The altercation reportedly started after Diss became angry that Byram was putting out a campfire.
After the initial incident, Byram left the scene and drove to his cabin where he woke his girlfriend, Jeanna Chacon, and told her he had been hit with a hammer and intended to kill the victim. He also made the same threat to another neighbor, Lee Holland, who testified that Byram appeared drunk but said he was “going to kill him.”…