An Athens-Clarke County jury has convicted a man in the 2019 robbery and subsequent shooting that left a University of Georgia club lacrosse player with three bullets lodged in his body, officials said.
The jury found Zarren Garner guilty on all nine counts related to the shooting that sent then 22-year-old Tate Prezzano to the intensive care unit with wounds to his shoulder, neck and head, according to court records.
Garner was convicted on multiple counts of armed robbery, aggravated assault and criminal attempt to commit a felony. The guilty verdict came just over two years after the shooting, which happened as the UGA communications major was waiting at an Athens bus stop, officials said.
“Few incidents are more concerning than a young man standing at the bus stop, waiting to go to college, that is accosted by an armed assailant, robbed and shot,” Athens police Chief Cleveland Spruill said in a news conference after the shooting.
Prezzano, who is from Milton, previously said he was waiting for his bus to arrive April 22 when he saw something move out of the corner of his eye about 7:15 a.m. When he looked up, a man was pointing a gun at him.
After being shot, Prezzano lay bleeding on the sidewalk, watching cars go by and hoping one would stop. Phil Haymore, who manages the intensive care unit at Piedmont Athens, was on his way to work when he saw Prezzano on the ground. Haymore provided care until emergency medical services arrived and took the student to the hospital. Prezzano remained there for six days.
A second UGA student was also robbed at gunpoint near the bus stop, which is just south of campus and the Athens Perimeter. That student was not hurt in the incident, which occurred moments before Prezzano was shot.
He was able to give police a description of the suspect, later identified as Garner, which was used to create a sketch. Not long after it was released, GBI special agent Mike Ayers said tips started pouring in from community members.
Garner was arrested in Gwinnett County the following day and has remained in jail ever since. Police said the community tips and the man’s prior “low-level criminal background” helped authorities connect him to the case.
Garner’s trial lasted four days, according to court records.
“The trial was brutal,” Tate’s father, Dobbin Prezzano, told Channel 2 Action News. “Seeing and hearing things we had not heard before and getting the perspective of body cam.”
The Prezzano family said they are grateful to see someone held accountable. “At the end of the day, the big word was accountability,” Tate Prezzano told Channel 2. “That’s what we got from it.”
Garner is scheduled to be sentenced June 3.
As part of his recovery process, Prezzano began the TateTough Foundation to address campus safety issues.
“Our goal is to promote funding for scholarships at two schools that have been an integral part of and made an impression on Tate: The University of Georgia and Cambridge High School,” the TateTough website said. “The Foundation will award a $1,000 scholarship to one University of Georgia lacrosse player and one Cambridge High School athlete each year that the Foundation can support the effort.”
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